


Perpetual Juvenescence

by SassyLaurenTheKiller



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adorable Newt Scamander, Alpha Tom Riddle, Cinnamon Roll Newt Scamander, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heir of Slytherin, Loss of Parent(s), Manipulative Tom Riddle, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Pre-Hogwarts, Professor Albus Dumbledore, Protective Newt Scamander, Slug Club, Slytherin Pride, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Teacher Newt Scamander, Teenage Tom Riddle, Tom Riddle Being an Asshole, Tom Riddle's gang - Freeform, Young Tom Riddle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24871942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SassyLaurenTheKiller/pseuds/SassyLaurenTheKiller
Summary: This is the first story of two that are planned.Victoria begins attending hogwarts in 1938 at the same time as Tom Riddle, he interests us and so she decides to try and get to know the future dark lord.|| I have a whole plan for this but I don't want to spoil anything. I made up my own teachers for some of the classes and made up who taught what in the school for some of the courses since not that much information is on hogwarts in that year. ||
Relationships: Newt Scamander/Original Female Character(s), Tom Riddle/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 40





	1. Hogwarts letter

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys like this :)

Victoria Circe Chapman was born October 31st 1926 in Spitalfields Whitechapel, a poor neighbourhood in London, England. Her father Henry Chapman, was an aggressive and horrible muggle man that didn't want children and would beat her mother, Rosmerta Rosier who was a witch and human animagus, a power that granted her the ability to change her appearance to that of something else at will; gifts that were passed on to her daughter without knowledge. Rosmerta wanted to name her daughter after her mother, Celestina or her grandmother Emmeline but Henry wouldn't allow her, despite not wanting the child at all and holding a large amount of hatred towards her, he was adamant on being the one who named her and he decided to name her after their previous Queen, Victoria. Despite not having a say on her daughter's name, Rosmerta managed to give Victoria her middle name, Circe which was the name of her Great Grandmother, another great witch.

In 1929 when Victoria was only three year olds she was abandoned in Spitalfield market late Christmas night, not far from her home since her father had seen her displaying signs of magic and refused to have a witch as a daughter, the young girl was already capable of summoning toys into her cot and her father feared what more she would learn to do. He demanded Rosmerta to get rid of her or even kill her but she refused, only when Henry tried to kill Rosmerta (Who would never harm him since she felt great love for him) did she finally agree to leave the child out in the cold to die.

Albert, the father of a religious family known as the Williams who knew the Chapman's and their little girl had seen and overheard everything and once he'd seen the young girl be abandoned he couldn't stop himself from taking the young girl home to his own family, his wife Catherine and their children. A young blonde haired blue eyed hyperactive eight year old daughter called Jane who was the spitting image of her mother and a six year old well disciplined, brown haired green eyed boy named Jack who was remarkably like his father.

In 1938 by the time she was eleven years old people could already tell she was going to grow up to be like her mother; beautiful, yet mischievous, loyal yet manipulative, intelligent, outspoken and courageous. They were traits that she showed well and despite her gifts in magic, she tried to control and contain it as best as she could for the family. Victoria's dark locks already flowed down her back, almost darker than coal itself and her eyes shined a bright blue hue that would draw people in, much like her mothers. Her complexion was fair, much like her fathers but that seemed to be the trait she'd gained from him since her temper was easily controlled and refrained. Albert and Catherine were very strict and so despite her mischief, Victoria was very disciplined and much like Jack, she didn't show much childish behaviour. Though she got along with Jack, she didn't get along with Jane at all.

Jack and Jane attended a local school, a place for them to learn all the necessaries that are required for life. Albert worked doing manual labour in the local factory, it was hard working and he was often seen appearing completely exhausted as soon as he returned home. Catherine worked as a teacher at the very school that Jack and Jane was attending, which left Victoria at home quite a lot of the time but since she was so mature for her age, she was trusted to be at home alone despite the fact that was when she let up any built up energy from not using her abilities.

Albert and Catherine were honest with Victoria about what her mother and father had done and she held a great deal of hatred for her parents, it burned within her and she had no idea why after so many years she still felt this desire for revenge against them, though those thoughts were put to the back of her mind most days, even more so when a man came to visit her. He spoke of a school where she could learn to use and control magic, despite Albert and Catherine being against it due to their strong religious beliefs, Victoria was incredibly interested in it and in the end, it was her decision. Nobody could stop her and they wouldn't try to, especially not when they saw the way her eyes lit up as she heard about the school.

The man who had come for her was a tall man, approximately 6'2" and possibly like she was, gifted. The man with tousled red brown hair and blue eyes gave off the appearance of a slightly, awkward man, though despite that he was actually rather muscular. He wore a blue coat, brown vest, white shirt, bow tie, dark brown trousers and brown boots and a scarf that was striped yellow and black. Though he hadn't spoken with her much, he gave off an incredibly calm aura, one that made you feel like you belonged and one you could find yourself growing comfortable in. This alone was enough to let her feel as though the school was a good idea and so, the man left her a letter and a note with a location and time, the note also included a list of items that she would need.

Victoria eagerly read the note that had been handed to her by the man not long after he had left. The note read:

_Be at **The Leaky Cauldron** , Charing Cross road in London on August 24th; do not worry about the owl. I will send message of your decision._

_Professor Newton Scamander_

_Professor of care of magical creatures / Magizoologist / Author_

Not even acknowledging the owl comment, immediately after reading the note, Victoria had rushed across the house, nearly knocking Jane over from her rush to get to her room and as soon as she was out of the sight of any possible prying eyes, she began to open and read the letter he had handed her.

**HOGWARTS** **SCHOOL** **of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

Headmaster: Armando Dippet

_Dear Ms. Victoria Chapman,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at HogwartsSchool of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Deputy headteacher._

Victoria eagerly took in the words written down, reaching back into the envelop to find the list, only realising that it was in fact empty, which was when she realised that the list was in fact on the back of the letter.

**HOGWARTS** **SCHOOL** **of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**UNIFORM:**

_Three Sets of plain work robes (Black)_ _One Plain pointed hat (Black) for day wear_ _One Pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_ _One winter cloak(Black, silver fastenings)_

**COURSE BOOKS:**

_Magical theory by Adalbert Waffling_ _Beginners guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_ _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_ _Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_ _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_ _The Dark Forces: A guide to self-protection by Quentin Trimble_

**OTHER EQUIPMENT:**

_1 Wand_ _1 Cauldron (Pewter; standard size 2)_ _1 set of glass or crystal phials_ _1 Telescope_ _1 set of brass scales_

_Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad._

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK

_Yours sincerely,_

_Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions_

As Victoria read through her letter there were many questions running through her head, questions such as; how on earth was she going to afford this equipment? Was this actually real? Where was Charing Cross Road? And finally, was she a witch?

She'd have to wait until August to find out, hopefully she could convince Albert to direct or even take her to this place, surely it shouldn't be too hard to find. . . It was only in the city of London after all!


	2. The Wizarding World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria goes shopping for her supplies for hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually really enjoyed writing this, I actually got quite carried away with it.

****

The weeks dragged by just as they always did if you were excited for something. It took some convincing but Albert did finally agree to take Victoria to Charing Cross road, though he wasn’t exactly sure where The Leaky Cauldron was. He had asked nearly everyone he knew about the location of this meeting place and nobody he knew seemed to know what he was talking about, other than a very old woman called Doris, her whole family had lived in London for generations.

“The Leaky Cauldron? That place hasn’t been open in many years . . . it closed in the 1600’s. I only know of it from diaries of my family, it appeared to be an awfully strange place . . . however, I do believe the building is still there. Though now it’s just an old broken down shop.” Doris had recalled from her memory.

Though it wasn’t much to go on, he believed it wouldn’t be too hard to find an old broken down shop on Charing Cross road. After all, he was sure it would all make sense once they met with the young, nice yet awkward man that had come to visit them all those weeks ago. He probably knew something that they didn’t.

London was busy as always as Albert and Victoria pushed their way through the crowded paths that took them down Charing Cross road, it was still a relatively new road having only been built in 1887, Albert had noticed how the cobbles were no where near as worn down or filth covered as most of the roads in London. Victoria however, was too busy scanning all the buildings and people that they passed by with deep intrigue, she had always preferred to view and study people. It was almost a gift of hers; she could read people just by looking at them.

Soon enough, they’d approached an old broken down appearing shop and Albert scanned his eyes over the note for some sort of address that could have been left for them. Victoria’s eyes flickered up to the old pub sign, her head tilting to the side in confusion as she noticed the sign seeming to develop colouring, words above a picture of a cauldron beginning to become more and more clear as she looked at the sign before there was no mistaking it, this was The Leaky Cauldron.

Victoria opened her mouth, ready to tell Albert what she had seen when suddenly a voice called out for them both.

“Hello! I apologise for being so late.” The familiar broad London accent called out.

The very same tousled reddish brown haired man from a few weeks ago had appeared once again walking out from an alleyway that seemed to have a dead end. The man was sporting a very similar outfit as he had the last time they had seen him which was a blue coat, yellowish brown vest, white shirt, bow tie, dark brown trousers and brown boots, however this time he didn’t seem to be wearing the yellow and black scarf that he wore last time.

“It is okay, we have only just got here ourselves. We weren’t quite sure where this place was.” Albert responded almost immediately.

“That’s because it’s hidden from muggles.” Newt blurted out his response almost immediately.

Victoria, who it was clear to Newt didn’t speak too much had furrowed her brows at the unfamiliar term of a ”muggle” And so once his eyes had landed on the young girl, he’d offered her a small yet awkward smile.

“It means non magic, people who are different from the likes of me and you.”

Victoria registered what he had said, however she still didn’t speak a word in response to him. It all still seemed too good to be true, a world where there were more people likes her and where she could learn to control and use her abilities. It seemed more like a harsh joke.

Little did she know . . .?

“Now, I have gathered some money together to help fund her things for school. It’s not much but it should help out a small bit.” Albert spoke up, breaking the awkward silence as he held out the money to the awkward male.

Newt, who Victoria had noticed seemed to struggle with social interactions, including struggling to hold eye contact with people, quickly shook his head and pushed his hand that held the money away.

“That uh – won’t be necessary.” The man stuttered out, awkwardly shuffling on his feet as he watched the muggle man appear even more confused. “Please, do not take it as an insult. Muggle money isn’t accepted where we are going.”

This perked Victoria’s interest despite confusing Albert all the more rather than offer him an explanation, which was what Newt seemed to believe he had done, but for the first time today Victoria actually seemed to find her voice.

“And where are we going?”

Newt, who actually hadn’t expected Victoria to speak finally let his eyes cast down to the young female who seemed to hold an intense and powerful ocean blue stare.

“Diagon alley . . . it is really hard to explain and much easier if I just show you.” Newt started off, pausing briefly in his words so that he could offer a look over to Albert who didn’t seem too keen on letting Victoria go with the man, his hand still clutching the money in his hand. “You need not worry Albert, I will not harm her and considering the events of what happened with her parents, Hogwarts is willing to fund for her school equipment. I will bring her back home, you have my word.”

Usually Victoria would not be so willing to follow a stranger but as stated before, she had the ability to read people quite well by simply watching them and she could see quite clearly that he didn’t mean any harm, the vibe and aura he gave off told her everything that she needed to know.

Albert was reluctant but he bid the pair of them goodbye and began walking back down Charing Cross road and as soon as he was out of sight, Newt turned towards the old pub and opened the door, revealing that the pub was actually very much still functioning and rather crowded.

As Victoria took a few steps inside, Newt closed the door behind them both whilst walking besides her, attempting to guide her through the crowds of wizards that surrounded them both. Newt appeared quite awkward, clearly not wanting to be around that many people whereas Victoria was quite fascinated by all the strange looking people.

“You’re not much of a people person, are you?” Victoria found her voice once again, speaking up quite quietly as she walked beside Newt through the people.

“What gave it away?” Newt responded, though his words were more of a mutter than anything.

“I can just tell. . . “

Newt let a half hearted laugh pass his lips as they reached the rear end of the pub heading out of the back to where most pubs would have an outdoor seating area or somewhere where rubbish may be disposed, leading to Victoria becoming increasingly confused, however she continued to watch as Newt pulled out what appeared to be a wand. The wand was dark brown where she guessed Newt held it, there was a small black area that separated the handle area and led into the rest of the wand that was light brown, a beige like appearance and if you looked closely enough, you could see small teeth indentations where Newt had been biting at the wand.

Victoria gazed at the wand, taking in every small detail of it as he tapped on the bricks of the wall in a very specific order. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what she had expected to happen but she watched as the wall seemed to unfold, opening up widely into a cold chilly but bustling street filled with what appeared to be excited kids or teen’s and stressed out looking parents. The streets were made of cobblestone and were everywhere on each sides, there was so much to take in and Newt watched as Victoria’s eyes glimmered, her face lighting up in complete fascination.

Newt was the first to step through the wall but Victoria was quick to follow after him as they walked through the bustling streets; it was almost as though a Christmas market was on, everyone seemed so happy and kids were staring through windows like they’d seen their future birthday presents.

“The first place we should go is Twilfitt and Tattings for your robes.” Newt spoke up as they walked down the streets together.

Twilfitt and Tattings was on the south side of Diagon alley and was an old looking store, though despite its age it was actually instilling some confidence in her. The owner seemed frantic, obviously busy which meant despite its age it actually was a popular choice for robes.

“Mr. Scamander! My days! I haven’t seen you in a long time!” The owner of the shop almost immediately exclaimed as the pair walked through the shop entrance. “You’re quite famous these days boy!”

Newt, who appeared incredibly awkward to be noticed simply nodded, eyes casting down to the floor as he tried to ignore the fact that he was very easily recognisable in public. However, despite noticing his name on one of the books that were listed to her, Victoria had no idea why he was famous.

“I’m here to help a student get her supplies, is there any chance you’ll be able to get her these?” Newt requested whilst handing the letter over to the shop owner, who immediately read over the list incredibly quickly since it was probably the hundredth list like that she’d read this week.

“Of course!” The owner responded whilst handing the letter back to Newt who in exchange handed her some of the money that had been set aside for her school equipment. “Come along with me girl, I’ll need to measure you so that I can get your robes a perfect fit.”

It took longer than she’d thought to get her robes fitted, along with the hat, gloves and winter coat but it needed to be done, even if it did mean she was stood there for what felt like hours with aching legs. However, once it was done the ache in her legs had disappeared and she was instead filled with excitement, more than ready to move on to the next shop.

The cold air once they’d stepped outside was more than welcomed and it felt good to walk again, the worst part was over and now everything else would be much quicker and easier to do surely.

“Where are we going now?” Victoria spoke up once they were outside, looking over at Newt who was scanning his list.

“To Ollivanders to get your wand.” Newt answered almost immediately, a small green creature peeking out from his chest pocket to read the letter that Newt was currently reading. The creature was approximately the size of a hand with two long sharp fingers on each hand, brown eyes, and a flat-faced stick figure made of what appeared to be bark and twigs, it would have been incredibly hard to spot in a forest.

Victoria who was following alongside the tall male wizard seemed to eye the small creature that was peeking from his pocket but not with disgust or fear, rather with curiosity and intrigue.

“What is that?” Victoria softly spoke up, not wanting to startle the creature into hiding.

“What is what?” Newt had started off, finally glancing up from the list to follow the young girls gaze, noticing that she was in fact looking at the creature in his pocket. “Oh . . . that’s Pickett, he’s a Bowtruckle.”

Victoria seemed to let out a soft, amused chuckle as she continued to eye the creature with a deep seated fascination, head tilting as she tried to get a better look at the creature who was now staring back at her.

“What’s a bowtruckle?” Her voice finally spoke up, it wasn’t a name that she’d heard before.

Newt, who seemed to almost shine when it came to this topic allowed his eyes to light up. He seemed absolutely delighted by this topic change as they walked towards Ollivanders, it was also on the south side of diagon alley.

“A Bowtruckle is an incredibly peaceful and intensely shy creature but if the tree in which it lives in is threatened, it has been known to leap down upon the woodcutter or tree-surgeon attempting to harm its home and gouge at their eyes with its long, sharp fingers.” Newt began, watching as Victoria’s eyes seemed to widen in shock at the mention of them gauging out eyes.” Not to worry, they are insectivores. They are incredibly easy to befriend, witches and wizards have learnt that If you offer them woodlice it will placate the Bowtruckle long enough to let them remove wand-wood from its tree.”

Finally the pair came to a stop outside of Ollivanders, however Victoria wasn’t quite done with their current conversation. His knowledge on these creatures that she’d never even heard of was incredibly intriguing to hear.

“Your letter said you were a Magizoologist and you wrote that book that I need to collect. . . “Victoria trailed off, only causing Newt to awkwardly smile in response to her words.

“Yes, I um, research, rescue, nurture and protect magical creatures. I wrote the book to educate fellow wizards and the next generation of the creatures in order to protect them.”

“And I will be learning about this at the school?” Victoria continued to question.

“Yes, however not fully until your third year. It’s too dangerous to work with some creatures at a young age, many young wizards can act quite mature and I wouldn’t want any harm coming to the creatures. . . or the students of course.” Newt awkwardly stammered towards the end, a hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck before he gestured to the shop next to both of them. “Now, let’s go and get you your wand.”

As soon as they stepped in a young man noticed the new face of a new student alongside the very familiar and famous magizoologist and former author. A smile graced the males face at the sight of the pair, he leaned over the counter to look at the young witch and Newt ducked down to whisper to young Victoria.

“This is Garrick Ollivander; his family have been making and selling wands for centuries. He remembers every wand his ever sold and who he’s sold them to.”

Victoria nodded in acknowledgement, her hand extending up to the man so that he could grasp it and shake it; he seemed to be quite shocked by the young girl’s formalities. “Hello Garrick, I am Victoria Chapman.”

“A pleasure to meet you Miss. Chapman. . . Now, you must be looking for a wand.” Garrick commented, eyebrow crooking down at the young girl as she gave him a quick nod off her head for confirmation.

Garrick reached behind him, searching through some of the wands he had stored behind him and Newt had taken a seat at the back of the room, awkwardly fidgeting with his hands and letting his leg shake up and down.

“Ah! Here try this: Alder wood, Unicorn hair, twelve inches, slightly springy.”

Of course, Victoria had no idea what any of that meant but she took the wand from him carefully, holding it and letting her eyes scan over it curiously. It felt quite strange.

“Go on, give it a whirl.” Ollivander spoke up, causing Victoria to jump ever so slightly.

Victoria hesitated momentarily but eventually she waved the wand and watched as lightning shot out from the end of the wand breaking a pot across the room. Victoria wasted no time in handing the wand back over to Ollivander with a evidently worried expression dawning her face.

“I am so sorry . . . perhaps there was a mistake? Maybe I’m not a witch.” Victoria stammered out quickly, eyes casting over to a concerned looking Newt briefly, however he was more concerned by her worry.

Ollivander seemed to find that quite amusing as he gave off a soft chuckle as he placed the wand safely back into its container so that he could put it back onto its shelf and collect another.

“Don’t be ridiculous Miss. Chapman, all wizards and witches much go through this. A wand is only as powerful as the wizard that uses them. It is not you who picks the wand; it’s the wand that picks you.” Ollivander spoke whilst grabbing another container to offer another wand to the young lady. ”Here, try this: Cypress wood, Dragon heartstring core, fifteen inches and springy.”

Victoria gave it a wave and one of the glasses that was on the shop keeper’s desk ended up flying across the room and smashing against the wall, causing Victoria to immediately hand the wand back over to Ollivander. Newt decided to go and get her class equipment that was on the list for her, such as her quill and cauldron whilst they worked on finding the right wand for her. Four wands, a knocked over bookshelf and many smashed objects later and Ollivander finally believed he may know which wand was for Victoria. He had just handed the wand over to her when Newt had just walked through the door.

“Here . . . try this: Alder wood with a phoenix feather core, 11 ¾" and hard flexibility.”

The wand which Victoria had been handed was made from a dark brown colour of wood and quite long, it was quite heavy but not bendy in the slightest. It was completely straight whereas some of the other wands were quite bent. As soon as Victoria waved the wand, the tip of it glowed and she immediately felt this overwhelming sense of energy, she felt as though it belonged with her, it felt right whilst all the other wands had felt wrong.

“Congratulations Miss. Chapman. That is an incredibly powerful wand, phoenix feathers are an incredibly rare core . . . Hogwarts are going to have quite the handful with powerful wizards this year. Only an hour ago did I sell a wand crafted from yew, and affixed with a phoenix feather core that was 13½" long to a young boy who is also starting his first year at Hogwarts.”

Victoria had been smiling wide, admiring her new wand that made this all too real for her. It all felt so right, of course she’d been listening to what Ollivander had said and she’d made a mental note of it but of course it was highly unlikely she’d meet the owner of the other wand.

Newt stepped up to pay for the wand as Ollivander boxed it up safely and handed it over to Victoria who was still beaming incredibly brightly, all they needed to get now was her books from a place that Newt had mentioned was called Flourish and Blotts which was on the north side of Diagon alley.

As they walked into the shop, Victoria noticed that shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps that were completely covered in silk; book covers that were full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing covering them at all. Newt, noticing her shocked expressions decided to assure her that he would find all the books since it would be much quicker and Victoria had agreed since she could tell that he was becoming increasingly anxious from the amount of people that were around as time went on, so whilst Newt went searching Victoria decided to roam around the shop.

Upon wondering, Victoria had noticed a boy around her age was also in the shop however he appeared to be alone as he stared at the many different books on the shelves. He was tall and handsome, with pale skin, jet black hair, and dark eyes. He was quite handsome, a kid that you know will grow up and their attractiveness will only increase as he does. If he was the same age as her then he certainly was tall for an eleven year old. Though he was good-looking with neatly combed hair, his clothes were quite dirty and moth-eaten, showing that he was from a poor family.

The boy though appearing to be focused fully on the books on front of him also seemed to be lost in his thoughts somewhat, his mind evidently elsewhere as he nibbled on his bottom lip. Victoria was hesitant as she moved to stand next to him, acting as though she was also searching for books.

Victoria could feel as the boys eyes flickered up to look at her, though she didn’t see the brief glare that he seemed to give her in the process before he turned to look back at the books ahead of him.

“Hello, is this going to be your first year at Hogwarts too?” Victoria decided to speak up, hypnotic blue eyes finally glancing over to look at the boy next to her.

The boy, who for a brief second appeared shocked that she was speaking to him, let his eyes rise up to meet the girl who had spoken to him. His face was blank, not displaying any emotion as he stared at her with his light blue eyes and for a moment, she didn’t actually think he was bless her with an answer eventually spoke.

“Yes.”

It was short but she managed to work out his well-spoken London accent as he spoke, something that didn’t really match his dress style so for a brief moment Victoria was shocked but she tried not to show it. As soon as he’d answered her however, he turned away and focused back on the books seemingly disbanding the conversation as soon as it had begun.

Victoria had opened her mouth to speak again however she was cut off from the sound of Newt calling her name since he’d finished gathering together all of her books and so she quickly left the boy to leave the shop with Newt once again.

Once they were back at the wall for Diagon Alley, Newt had grabbed Victoria by her arm and almost in a flash she’d found herself outside of her home, causing her to stumble slightly on the spot from the sudden movement.

“Wha-“

“Apparating. It’s a faster means of travel that witches and wizards can do.” Newt explains, cutting Victoria off mid word in the process.

He was digging through his pockets eventually pulling out was he was looking for and holding it out for Victoria to take from him, once he had taken it she realised that it was a train ticket.

“Now, on September 1st you are to board the Hogwarts express at King’s Cross station. The train leaves from platform 9 ¾ at 11O’clock. Make sure you’re on board by then.”

Baby blue orbs danced over the ticket in her hand, she’d never heard of platform 9 ¾ before and worry began to build up inside of her at the mention of such a thing.

“9 ¾ but where is that?” Victoria found herself asking almost immediately.

“Oh yes, of course . . . just walk directly at the apparently solid barrier dividing Platforms Nine and Ten. It’s a magical barrier that separates muggles from our world.” Newt explains whilst checking the watch on his wrist, Victoria found his explanation rather bizarre but decided not to question him on it. “Now I really must be going, I have to get back to feed my creatures. You should manage just fine. I shall be seeing you at Hogwarts.”

And almost like he wasn’t even there, Newt vanished into thin air, Victoria assumed that he’d apparated again as he had done with them both earlier, she’d barely even seen any magic yet she was already completely in love with the world. She couldn’t wait to start at Hogwarts, September 1st couldn’t come any faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments and Kudo's for more :)


	3. Platform 9 ¾ and The Hogwarts express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria begins her journey to Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm reading the books and rewatching the movies, sorry for the late update :)

Despite it only being a week away Victoria noticed how slow it seemed to take for September 1st to come, she’d noticed that sleep was hard and rare to come by too, excitement seemed to consume her as her mind often filled with crazy thoughts of possible adventures at her new school, preventing her from drifting off into a peaceful slumber. During the day, she engrossed herself in her new school books, scanning her baby blues over every page and taking in as much information as she possibly could. She found herself reading all about the different potions, historical battles and rare and exciting creatures that filled the wizarding world, it was amazing that there was so much she didn’t know about and it was actually one of the only worries she had about starting at this new school, were there going to be other wizards and witches that have been raised around normal folk? Or muggles as Newt had referred to them as.

On the night of August 31st Victoria had been lay looking out of the condensed window that resided by her bed, eyes taking in the many twinkling stars that filled the night sky, she couldn’t help but worry about missing the train in the morning, she had repeated what Newt had told her over and over again in her head, yet it still seemed to stump her. How could she run through a wall? Just as that thought came, it left as another took its place, would she be able to make any friends? She remembered that boy from Flourish and Blotts, he wasn’t exactly ecstatic to speak to her, maybe wizards were different? However, Newt seemed nice enough and he was a wizard. Awkward but nice.

Victoria didn’t know what time it was when she’d fallen asleep but she was thankful for deaths younger cousin lulling her to slumber because she didn’t want to be half asleep wondering around the train station. She was awoken by Jane rather roughly shoving her.

“Wake up Vic, Mother said you need to get your things together and eat before you leave.”

Victoria lazily rubbed the sleep from her eyes, briefly forgetting what day it was but as soon as she’d remembered she’d dived up from her bed, tossing her covers aside and nearly knocking Jane over in the process. There was so much that she needed to sort out, starting with collecting her school books that she’d left lying around her shared room.

After bathing and braiding her hair to the side she’d dragged her case filled with her robes from under her bed and began to stuff her school books and wand neatly inside before slamming it shut, she was keeping her other school supplies in a different case that Albert had already packed away for her.

Almost in a flash she’d come bounding down the stairs, dressed in the dress that had been laid out on her bed by Catherine. It was the typical female style for the time an empire waist, knee length dress that was a jade green shade with a rounded white collar that folded down.

As Victoria seated herself between Jack and Jane at the breakfast table, Catherine had immediately begun to tie a matching Jade green ribbon into Victoria’s braid, she wanted Victoria to look nice as she went off to her new school, she wanted to show that their family accepted, embraced and took pride in the fact they had a witch under their roof. Albert busied himself with reading the morning Paper at the breakfast table with a mug of coffee on the table in front of him.

“When will you be back?” Jack decided to ask Victoria through mouthful’s of his porridge. “Will you be back?”

“Of course she’ll be back. Don’t be so ridiculous, she’s only going to school.” Jane almost immediately responded for Victoria, not that Victoria seemed to want to answer as she hadn’t paused to even breathe from eating. “Right Vic?”

Noticing that the two were speaking directly to her, Victoria decided to pause from eating her porridge and think on a response, she was due to return at Christmas but there was the odd chance that she wouldn’t want to come home for the holidays.

“I think I’ll be home at Christmas?” Victoria muttered out, getting a slight slap on the head from Catherine for forgetting her manners and mumbling instead of speaking clearly.

“You think?” Jack almost immediately responded.

It was time for Albert to look from over his paper at the children, he knew what was going through Victoria’s mind from the mere expression on her face and as he looked up higher at his wife’s expression, it was clear that Catherine knew too.

“Now, Now Jack. She may make friends that she might want to spend the holidays with. It’s all part of growing up.” Albert almost immediately defended, offering the evidently torn girl a brief smile that made her baby blue hues momentarily sparkle. ”Now hurry girl, otherwise you won’t be going anywhere.”

It had taken a while but after loading the luggage into the car and triple checking that she had everything required, Victoria and Albert climbed into the car, bid their farewells and begun their rather uneventful journey to King Cross station. It was 10.30am once they’d arrived and after loading their luggage onto a trolley they begun to search for the barrier that divided Platform 9 and 10 as Newt had instructed Victoria.

It took them a small while but they managed to find the place they assumed was where Newt had mentioned before he had left back in August. Victoria was filled with Nerves as she stared at what appeared as a solid brick wall, she didn’t really want to run at it as Newt had said.

“Here it is. . . Just run at it? I guess?” Albert said sounding almost as confused as he looked; clearly he was just as optimistic as Victoria was about the whole thing. ”Now, if you ever feel you want to come home. Just write and we’ll sort something out.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine Albert, but thank you. . .” Victoria responded softly, eyes focused solely on the wall. She’d read enough over this week to realise that nothing should really shock her, especially not a wall. After all, Newt had said it was an invisible barrier.

Victoria gave a brief glance up towards Albert who attempted to give her a reassuring smile, though she didn’t pay much mind to it as she had noticed the clock on the wall near him that showed it was 10:47am, she’d need to hurry up and just take a chance if she was to get on this train and go to this school.

Her hand’s tightened on the handles of the trolley and after taking a deep breath; she began to run forward towards the wall. Eyes slamming shut as she braced for impact against the solid brick wall, however it never seemed to come. The whistling of a train made her eyes fly open and she looked to the side, noting the scarlet red train that was named the. “Hogwarts express.”

After snapping out of her shock, she decided to follow a family that had just come through the wall so that she could find out where to put her luggage, she was ignoring the families that she passed by that were crying and bidding farewell to their kids that were boarding the train.

Once her luggage was on board, she got on the train herself giving her ticket to one of the railway workers who allowed her onto the train once he’d checked over the ticket thoroughly. Her hands nervously smoothed down her dress as she passed by some older students chatting in the corridors so that she could find an empty compartment to sit in and get changed into her robes.

The compartment she found was about half way down the train but she was thankful for finding somewhere quiet that she could change in. The robes fit her perfectly thanks to the measurements and once she’d placed her case in the holder above her, she sat herself down and gazed out of her window at the many families that were still saying goodbye to their children.

The compartment door openly caused her baby blues to whip from the emotional filling sight outdoors to whoever was entering her private sanctuary. The intruder was clearly a first year like she was; his hair was a dark brown shade, flat and straight that stopped at his eyebrows and his now confused eyes were a chocolate brown shade. He’d already changed into his robes just as she had.

“Uh, so I know this might be awkward but all the other compartments are full. Can I sit in here?” This strange boy suddenly asked the now confused Victoria.

“I don’t see why not?” Victoria responded with a raise of her brow in the stranger’s direction as he took his seat across from her.

“I’m Michael Merlin Schofield.” The male introduced himself once he’d settled comfortably across from her. ”I’m a pureblood, I come from a family of Gryffindors. . . what about you?”

This boy’s comment had left her confused, she had no idea what he’d meant by pureblood or Gryffindor so she decided to simply give him her name.

“Victoria. Victoria Circe Chapman.”

Michael was quick, very quick in fact. He seemed to immediately realise the predicament that Victoria had found herself in and she was lucky, very lucky that Michael was a pureblood Gryffindor because if it had been anybody else, she would have immediately fallen victim to bullying.

“You’ve grown up in a muggle family haven’t you? Are you muggle born?”

Victoria was quite taken aback by Michael’s words, at first she seemed hesitant to respond to him since she didn’t exactly know him but despite the testy waters, she decided to take a chance.

“Indeed. I have grown up in a muggle household but I am not muggle born, I was abandoned by my family. My mother was a witch.”

Michael took in the girls words, at first he seemed to almost pity the girl across from him but then his demeanour seemed to change completely and he leaned over to her, almost like he was about to tell a grave secret.

“I wouldn’t let anyone know that if I was you, not all wizards are accepting of muggle borns or people raised in muggle households. There are a lot of pureblood families at Hogwarts and they’re ruthless, especially if they’re in Slytherin like the Malfoy’s.”

Victoria eyed Michael almost suspiciously for a brief moment as she watched him lean back into his seat, a smug smile soon gracing his lips as he noticed the way she seemed to be eying him.

“But don’t worry; your secret is safe with me.”

It had been about an hour into the journey and Michael had been explaining the different houses that you could be sorted into and how they are decided, as well as what pureblood families were throughout the school. He’d actually been a massive help to her, even letting her borrow his copy of today’s daily prophet so she could see, much to her amazement how the pictures moved.

“Gods, I’m starving.” Michael suddenly blurted out, causing Victoria’s gaze to whip up from the moving pictures that had fascinated her, she hadn’t even been reading the article.

“Is there not anything to eat on here?” Victoria decided to ask, feeling much more comfortable talking to Michael now.

“There should be a trolley but I think it’s gone past us.”

Victoria folded the paper and held it out for Michael to take from her as she looked up at the compartment door; she had a small mental debate as she stared at it for a few moments before bracing herself up to stand.

“I’ll go and ask one of the other compartments, see if they’ve seen it.”

Michael didn’t respond as Victoria left their compartment, looking up and down the empty corridor she saw no sign of the Trolley and so, she mustered up some courage and headed to the compartment next to her own. Breathing in and out deeply to calm herself, she knocked on the door before opening it and she was greeted by four boys, one of which was the boy she remembered from Flourish and Blotts and he had immediately met her gaze and it was clear from the confused and almost irritated glance he’d given her, that he remembered her too.

The boys were all staring at her, almost making her feel like she was miniscule in their presence. There were three dark haired boys, including the one she recognised from Flourish and Blotts and one platinum blonde haired boy.

“Well? Did you want something?” The platinum blonde haired boy finally asked her, catching her attention and making her clear her throat so she could respond.

“Has the trolley been by here? A friend of mine was wondering.”

“No, now leave.” The wavy brown haired boy almost bit out, his posh accent clearly showing that just like the blonde, he was from a high status. Victoria had either disrupted something or he was just naturally rude. Probably both.

At first, Victoria was going to bite her tongue and remain reserved and polite, but instead her previously sweet innocent, shy and awkward façade dropped and she couldn’t control her temper that Catherine had always hated in her.

“Listen, I don’t know who you think you are talking to posh boy but I won’t be spoken down to. Now, when you decide to apologise I’ll be in the compartment next door.”

The other brown haired boy that had been sat next to the boy she’d seen in Flourish and Blotts had snickered along with the platinum blonde, watching as their friend became infuriated as Victoria had closed the compartment door. The other boy had remained quiet, simply observing as the girl had left.

Victoria returned back to her compartment, throwing herself down across from Michael who had been reading a book on broomsticks whilst she’d been away, he’d noticed her red face and simply quirked his brow up at her in question.

“I think I know what you mean by most purebloods being Narcissistic now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment and kudo's for more!


	4. The Sorting Ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new students arrive at Hogwarts and are sorted into their new houses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I've been having internet problems and I've been lost in reading the books xD I'm very grateful for the feedback and I appreciate hearing from you guys :)

Victoria had engrossed herself in reading her potions book, eye’s forcing themselves to stay open and focus on the words on the page in front of her and trying to block out the humming of the train on the tracks that was almost lulling her to sleep.

“Do you ever plan to turn that page?” Michael’s voice spoke up, reminding her in that moment that she wasn’t actually alone in the compartment. “You’ve been reading the same page for about fifteen minutes.”

Victoria sighed in defeat, shutting the book in her hand and letting it fall into her lap, her left hand scrunched into a fist and raised up to her eye to begin rubbing it in hopes of rubbing the sleep away in the process.

“I’m exhausted, how much longer do you think we’ll be travelling for?” Victoria eventually sighed out, eyes adverting to look out of the condensed window of the train in hopes of seeing any sign that they were nearing their destination.

“I highly doubt it will be much longer.” Michael responded almost instantly, though his gaze was continuing to focus on his own book, he had already nearly finished his book on broomsticks. He seemed like a possible bookworm.

Almost as if on cue the steam train’s horn sounded, letting all that were on board aware that they were nearing their destination. Victoria’s previous tiredness seemed to vanish and her body began to almost buzz with excitement and anticipation.

The train began to slow its pace as they grew closer to where the students were scheduled to arrive. Victoria and Michael could hear the ruckus of students that were all too eager to get off the train, despite it being their first time at Hogwarts they were both taking their time leaving the train.

The cold wind nipped at Victoria’s skin as they left the train, her baby blue eyes didn’t know where to focus as she found herself surrounded by hundreds of students all at once. It was like getting lost in an ocean of people, it was easy to lose sense of anything and everything.

“First year students, come to me if you will.” An incredibly familiar voice called through the swarm of students.

Victoria didn’t seem to get much chance to start walking since she found the boy she had been sat with on the train tugging the sleeve of her robes to lead her through the people and to the source of the voice that continued to call out to first years. It became all too clear why she recognised the voice once she was met with the sight of Newt Scamander, the man who had taken her to Diagon Alley and delivered her Hogwarts letter.

Victoria approached Newt alongside Michael, casting a look in the direction of the boys whose compartment she’d gone into on the train and earning a glare from the wavy brown haired boy that she had given attitude to in the process. Victoria did nothing but roll her eyes in response to the glare before turning her attention fully to Newt. She may not have been raised in this community but she wouldn’t let as Michael had called them “Purebloods” intimidate her.

“Is this everybody?” Newt’s voice called over the group of students, eyes scanning around the rest of the area as older students seemed to take a completely different route. “Okay, perfect. Now, let’s take you to Hogwarts shall we? If you’ll now follow behind me.”

Newt set off walking down a rather narrow path, he was wearing a similar outfit to what he had worn the day Victoria had first met him. He was holding a lantern high above his head to light the way for all the students as they took the path in twos, all following behind each other in the process. The narrow path led out to the edge of a large dark lake that had many boats lining the shore.

Victoria couldn’t help but marvel at the sight that greeted her across the lake, there was a vast castle with many turrets and towers perched atop a high mountain. The windows of the castle were twinkling from the reflection of the stars that littered the clear night skies.

“Only four to a boat, unless you wish to swim . . . though the giant squid won’t thank you for that.” Newt called out to the students as he ushered some students into a boat with him.

Victoria climbed into a boat alongside Michael, noticing that she was sat directly across from the boy that she had met in Flourish and Blotts. His dark eyes looked over both her and Michael before focusing on the other boats. Sat across from Michael was the wavy brown haired boy that she had definitely made an enemy in.

“Are we all set? Very well, let’s go.”

Upon Newt’s words, the boats began to move on their own. Victoria’s eyes lit up at the sight, she cast her gaze around the water surrounding them before attempting to recompose since she didn’t want her fascination to appear too obvious. Once she’d looked back into the boat she’d noticed that the only person who seemed to spot her excitement was the boy from Flourish and Blotts, who didn’t really seem to care too much, though his face just seemed as expressionless as it had every other time she’d seen him.

After sharing a brief look at the boy across from her, she turned to face her newly made friend from the train, only to notice he seemed to be in a stare off with the wavy brown haired boy across from him. There was tension in the air.

“Let me guess, another Schofield?” The posh accent of the boy spoke up, gripping everyone on the boats attention instantaneously.

“Lestrange. Why am I not surprised?” Michael spoke back, seeming incredibly relaxed despite the attitude of the boy across from him.

“Lestrange?” Victoria now spoke up, though she imagined that she’d probably regret it.

“Another pureblood family that are always in Slytherin.” Michael explained, earning an almost devious smirk from the man across from him but Michael’s eyes never once stopped their assault on this boy.

This Lestrange boy however, stopped staring at Michael and turned his attention to Victoria, who had given him some attitude on the train and had embarrassed him in front of his friends. His hand held out to Victoria for her to shake and although she was reluctant at first, she extended her hand to shake his. The boy from Flourish and Blotts remained silent, observing the exchange between the pair so that he could see where it would lead.

“Reinhard Tiernan Lestrange.” The male introduced himself properly, the smirk he had previously worn not once fading. “Or Posh boy as you called me.”

“Victoria Circe Chapman.” Victoria responded once she’d pulled her hand back from him. “And I’m **_not_** sorry about that.”

The boy from Flourish and Blotts seemed to briefly smirk at that little comment but it was gone as quit as it came when Victoria turned her attention on him. He was almost glaring at her and she wasn’t sure what it was about him but he had an incredibly intimidating aura about him.

“And you are?” Victoria asked, voice masking her uncertainty of asking the question.

Just like in Flourish and Blotts Victoria was led to believe he wouldn’t respond to her question but she was pleasantly surprised when his London accent reached her ears.

“Tom. Tom Marvolo Riddle.”

Victoria stared at him for a moment, she didn’t fully understand why he was hanging around with these purebloods when he himself hadn’t appeared as a pureblood when she’d seen him in Flourish and Blotts, his clothes were moth bitten and old.

Her confusion must have shown on her face since Tom was still staring at her, but she was quick to look away from him once she heard Lestrange speak up once again.

“So, why do they insist on continuing to send your family to this school?”

“I could ask you the same question.” Michael remarked back.

Tom and Victoria shared another look towards one another before focusing on anything but each other and the bickering pair that joined them in the boat that was effortlessly gliding across the smooth lake.

“If you could all duck your heads down!” Newt called out to the boats of first years as they reached the cliffs edge.

All of the students ducked their heads down as they were carried through a curtain of Ivy which was hiding the opening of the cliff face. The boats were then carried through a dark tunnel that took them seemingly directly under the castle, until they were met by the sight of an underground harbour which they all climbed out onto, stepping onto rock and pebbles.

Whilst all the students climbed out of their boats safely, Newt had moved over to some giant oak doors and knocked with vigour three times before waiting patiently; however he didn’t need to wait long as a man swung the doors open almost instantaneously. The man that came into view was quite tall and thin with long, white/grey hair that still seemed to show specks of auburn within it, his long beard held the same colouration of his hair. Bright blue eyes looked over Newt from behind half moon glasses.

“Here are the first years Professor Dumbledore.”

“Ah, thank you Professor Scamander, I shall take it from here.” Dumbledore addresses the slightly shorter male before him before turning his attention completely to the group of students. “Welcome! Welcome to your first year at Hogwarts!”

Despite his joyous and calm welcoming, there was an aura that Victoria could feel radiating of this man; it was incredibly powerful as though he radiated power itself. Victoria glanced to her sides, noting how a few people seemed to look at this man with an immense sense of admiration, other than the boy who stood near her. Tom.

The door was pulled wide and Professor Dumbledore began walking forward, the students following closely behind as he led them through stone flagged corridors that were lit by wall mounted torches. Eventually they reached a grand marble staircase that led them to the upper floors. As they walked up the staircase, chatter could be heard echoing signalling to everyone that the rest of the school were already here.

Professor Dumbledore ushered the students into a small cramped chamber, which caused all the students to huddle close together. Michael and Lestrange were forced near each other which had caused yet another stare off between the two rivals. Victoria and Tom stood near each other, resulting in her unfortunately being squished between him and Lestrange.

“Each year, Hogwarts hosts a start-of-term banquet in the great hall which shall begin shortly, however before you can take your seats and get a taste of the infamous crème tarts that the kitchen staff so kindly provide us with, you must be sorted into your houses.” Dumbledore begins. “The Sorting ceremony is incredibly important, while you are here at Hogwarts with us, your house will be your own family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitories, and spend free time in your house common room with one another.”

Victoria gave a glance past Lestrange to Michael, remembering what he had told her about the houses on the train and she couldn’t help but wonder which house she would be a member of. His family were all Gryffindor after all, would he join them?

“The four houses are: Gryffindor for the courageous, Hufflepuff for the dedicated, Ravenclaw for the creative and last but not least Slytherin for the ambitious.” Dumbledore lists carefully. “While you are here at Hogwarts, you will earn house points depending on your behaviour; any rulebreaking will lose house points and at the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup, which is a great honor to achieve.”

Victoria didn’t understand how they would know which house they belonged to, however she avoided asking the question in fear of sounding stupid and she assumed there would be a test of sorts; this was a magic world however so perhaps they just knew.

“The sorting ceremony will begin in a few moments; it will take place in front of the rest of the school and once it is complete you may feast. I shall return for you when we are ready.” Dumbledore suddenly announced before leaving the room.

The students all began to gossip amongst each other about the ceremony, the teachers and their anticipated houses that they could join. Victoria heard a lot mentioning of Newt Scamander’s name and Dumbledore’s being thrown around with another name that she didn’t recognise Grindelwald, however before she could even begin to consider the name; Victoria felt something hit her in the back of the head.

“Ow-“

Turning around, Victoria noticed a board rubber lying on the floor but that wasn’t what shocked her the most. A figure of a man was swirling in the air above the class, only pausing in his swirling once he noticed all the eyes on him. His lips curled up into a mischievous grin once he heard the scream of a couple of girls. This little floating man with wickedly slanted, orange eyes was dressed in loud, outlandish clothes including a bell-covered hat that black hair was peaking out from underneath and an orange bow tie.

“Why! It’s firsty years!!” The high pitched voice of the man exclaimed, throwing a piece of chalk in the direction of Michael who was able to duck out of the way.

“Peeves. That is quite enough.” Dumbledore’s voice sounded from behind the group of students.

Peeves, which had previously been showing a chaotic careless attitude almost seemed to appear innocent for a brief moment, if it wasn’t for that wicked grin that still remained etched on his face.

“I wasn’t doing anything Professy sir. I was just introducing myself is all?” Peeve’s voice seemed to have deemed an oily tone as it spoke to Dumbledore with some respect.

“Of course Peeves. Off to the grand hall with you, I do believe there will be some cream pies at the feast.” Dumbledore spoke to the floating male above the students, though his blue eyes that were hidden behind his half moon glasses seemed to have some mischief hidden in them.

Almost instantly Peeves flew off through a wall, catching multiple people off guard and causing a crash to irrupt from the direction he had flown in. All students turned their gaze back in Dumbledore’s direction.

“Peeves is a poltergeist. He has been here since the creation of Hogwarts. He is very fond of mischief and chaos, you’d all do well to try and avoid him.” Dumbledore explained. “Now, if you will all follow me and form a line.”

The students all did as they were told and she stood between Michael and Lestrange they were all led in a line out of the chamber that they had just been in and across the hall to a pair of double doors.

The double doors were opened revealing a room that was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting, though she only recognised one of them and that was Professor Scamander.

Professor Dumbledore led the students down the centre of the hall until they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the group of teachers behind them. There were hundreds of students facing them, their faces lit only by the flickering of candle light, amongst the many students were the silvery and what appeared transparent figures of ghosts that were floating around the room, the only one that appeared to have a solid form was Peeves who could be seen, somewhat behaving at the back of the room with another ghost that appeared bloodstained.

Above them, the ceiling appeared to be nonexistent as it appeared as though Victoria was looking completely at the stars; however that didn’t seem to be entirely possible because there was no biting chill of the night air within the room as there had been outside.

Professor Dumbledore placed a four legged stool in front of all the first year students and on top of that stool, an old patched, frayed and extremely dirty pointed hat was placed. There was complete silence throughout the room as everyone seemed to stare at this hat, Victoria actually believed that she was now quite mad or perhaps even having some insane dream. However, the hat caught her off guard as she noticed the hat twitch. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and much to her astonishment, it began to sing.

“ _Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_ _  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your __bowlers_ _black,_ _  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!_”

The entire hall erupted into applause and Victoria joined with them, feeling as though she was obligated to despite stilling being in shock at the sight of a hat singing. If Jack and Jane could see what she was seeing now, they would believe the hat to be a sign of the devil.

“Upon the calling of your name, you shall step forward and take a seat. The hat shall be placed on your head and you will be sorted.” Dumbledore announced as he unravelled a piece of parchment. “ **Avery,** **Emlyn** **.”**

The platinum blonde that had been in the compartment with Tom and Lestrange stepped forward and took a seat on the four legged stool whilst Dumbledore placed the hat on his head, the hat falling right over his eyes and leaving the hall in a few moments of silence before the hat suddenly roared out the words. “SLYTHERIN!”

The table filled with students in robes that were lined in emerald green all cheered out and welcomed Avery as he moved down to take a seat at the Slytherin table.

“Black, Alphard.” Dumbledore called.

A quite cute looking dark haired boy stepped forward towards the stool, taking his seat as Dumbledore placed the hat over his head just as he had done with Avery, another moments silence before-

“SLYTHERIN!”

Michael seemed somewhat uneasy by the amount of Slytherin’s that were being called out already, especially since he was pretty confident that Lestrange would also be going there.

“Chapman, Victoria.” Dumbledore called once again.

Despite feeling as though her legs were jelly, she took a few uneasy steps forward towards the stool before sitting herself on top of it. It was nerve wrecking sitting in front of all of the expectant staring students.

Dumbledore proceeded to place the hat over her head and Victoria’s vision was now blocked by the fabric of the hat shielding her eyes, there was a strange sensation as though someone was prying through her thoughts, scanning through her personal memories and Victoria found herself fighting to block whatever it was, she tried to push it out.

_“Well, you certainly don’t want to be an easy sort do you?”_ Victoria heard the voice of the hat speak down her ear, making her tense up slightly.

Victoria didn’t speak, however that sensation continued to try and pry itself back, however it was much more powerful now than it had been previously and it was much more difficult to push away this time.

_“Nice try girlie, however you’re a thousand years too early to keep me from your mind._ _Occlumency is far too advanced for first years. However, it is a rare skill that you do seem to hold. Many skills, very resourceful.”_ The hat seemed to be pondering to itself. _“Oh and power, yes definitely power. However there seems to be a lack of tolerance for those who appose you and anger, resent. A lot of built up rage for certain. Intelligence is clear and prominent through your knowledge, Ravenclaw could be a good fit for you or perhaps even Hufflepuff since you show an admirable amount of loyalty . . . however there is an overwhelming sense of Ambition. A desire to prove yourself as powerful . . . I know exactly where to put you . . . “_

“SLYTHERIN!” The hat called out dramatically.

A series of claps and cheers erupted from the slytherin table as she stood up from the stool, the hat now back in Professor Dumbledore’s hands as she made her way down to take a seat next to Avery at the Slytherin table. The rest of the sortings seemed to go by like a breeze.

“Hagrid, Rubeus.”

“GRYFFINDOR!”

“Hornby, Olive.”

“RAVENCLAW!”

“Lestrange, Reinhard.”

“SLYTHERIN!”

“Mulciber, Amos **.”**

“SLYTHERIN!”

“Nott, Remus.”

“SLYTHERIN!”

“Riddle, Tom.”

Victoria’s attention was definitely perked upon hearing the name of the boy she had so rarely heard speak. He took his seat upon the four legged stool and the hat was placed upon his head, there was another few moments of anticipating silence before-

“SLYTHERIN!”

The table that Victoria was sat at erupted into cheers and she watched as Riddle took his seat next to Nott and Mulciber, across from her Black and Avery. Victoria continued to watch as her friend that she’d sat with on the train would be next, she knew by the order they were doing the sorting in and she wanted to see if he would truly follow in his family’s footsteps.

“Schofield, Michael.”

Michael, seeming quite nervous stepped forward and seated himself on the stool allowing Dumbledore to place the hat upon his head and allowing the anticipation to fill the room once more as it had every time before now.

“GRYFFINDOR!

Victoria gave a small smile as the Gryffindor table broke out into cheers and began to applaud as Michael made his way over to the table that his family had all once been sat at.

“Warren, Myrtle.”

“RAVENCLAW!”

Finally, the last student had been sorted and everyone waited as a man stepped forward. This man had been seated in the centre of all the teachers and had long wavy white hair with a matching pure white beard, he gestured for the room to silence from their excitement before he spoke.

“Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts. For you first years, I am Professor Armando Dippet, the head teacher here at Hogwarts. Tomorrow lessons shall commence but for now we shall begin our start of term feast. Enjoy.”

As Professor Dippet waved his hand, the table’s throughout the main hall were filled with food of all sorts, roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy and ketchup. Victoria was starving and she wasted no time in gathering herself some roast chicken, pork chops, sausages, Yorkshire puddings and gravy, though she believed that she would regret it because she very quickly found herself full.

Victoria listened in with Avery and Black as one of the second year girls, Samantha told them all about their house. She told them that the head of Slytherin house was Professor Horace Slughorn, who was also the potions teacher and that their house ghost was the bloody baron, whom she pointed out at the end of the Slytherin table he was a horrible looking ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood but Samantha explained that he particularly favours Slytherins but that they should never ask him why he’s covered in blood because it won’t end well. Samantha also whispered over to Victoria a little tip that Peeves the poltergeist is actually afraid of the bloody baron.

When everyone had eaten as much as they possibly could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as they were before. Not even a moment later the desserts appeared, there were blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, and chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O and even rice pudding. Victoria was still full from eating all the food at the main course, so instead she amused herself with watching Peeves the poltergeist flying underneath tables so he could push cream tarts up into student’s faces.

After everyone had finished eating and Peeves had been chased from the great hall by the bloody baron and nearly headless nick, the tables were once again clean. Victoria watched as Professor Dippet once again stepped forward to address the room of students.

“I must speak with you all before you follow your prefects to your house dormitories. First years, the forbidden forest is off bounds to all students. No magic is to be used between classes or in the corridors. Quidditch trails will be held in the second week of term, anyone who wishes to partake should speak with Professor Grawp Whisp. Now, off to bed. If you will all follow your house prefects, they will lead you to your dorms.”

The Slytherin first years all followed after the house prefects alongside the other Slytherins, it appeared that there was more than one member of the Black family currently in Slytherin as Victoria had overheard Alphard talking to who appeared to be a relative of his. The journey to their dorm seemed never ending as they went down many stairs on their adventure to what seemed to be the dungeons. It seemed like forever before they came to a halt in front of a bare stretch of stone wall.

“Pureblood.” The male slytherin prefect spoke up clearly.

The password caused the wall to part as though it was a door, allowing entrance to all the first year students to the Slytherin common room which in itself was striking to look at it was a dungeon-like room with green tinted lamps and chairs. This dungeon extended partway under the lake, bathing the light in the room a green tinge. The common room had lots of low backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas; skulls; and dark wooden cupboards. One of the wooden tables throughout the room had a Wizard's Chess set on it. The room was decorated with tapestries which seemed to be depicting adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins. It had quite a grand atmosphere, but also quite a cold one.

“Everyone straight to bed.” The slytherin prefect called out, whilst beginning to point in directions. ”Up there is the girls dorm and that way is the boys dorm.”

Victoria watched as the boys all headed towards the dorms before she made her way after the girls towards her own, she had never seen so much green in her life. Four poster-beds filled the dorm and were covered in green eiderdowns with a nightstand next to it and school trunks that already held all their belongings at the foot of each bed. A wooden chair and dresser was near each bed. A wooden board was situated on either side of each bed for students to decorate and a lamp was placed on each dresser. The walls and floors were made of stone, slytherin crest rugs covering the stone proudly and there didn’t appear to be any windows. There was also a perch on each dresser, and a snuffbox on top of each trunk for pets.

Victoria wasted no time in changing into her nightgown and climbing into her situated four poster bed, she untied the curtains and pulled them shut so that she couldn’t see anyone or any light and so that they couldn’t see her. Everything was so crazy right now, she was so excited by today’s events but also incredibly exhausted and once she’d laid herself down, it wasn’t long before her exhaustion had taken over and she’d fallen into blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos and comments for more, I love hearing your feedback :)


	5. The first day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria experiences her first day at Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been incredibly busy and I'm writing this after doing a 21 hour lorry/Truck drive with a friend to Scotland and back with zero sleep, so I really hope this is okay :)

Victoria had been rudely awoken in the early hours by a noisy dormitory, though that was signalling to her that it was in fact time to wake up and begin getting herself ready for her first day of classes. Victoria shoved the curtains of her four poster bed to see the mad rush of excitement within the female side of the Slytherin Dorm, the excitement seemed to mostly come from the first years but the loudness was coming from the elder students who had decided that the early morning was the perfect time to start catching up.

Victoria pushed herself up and gazed over at her bedside counter to see a piece of paper lay there, it seemed to be her timetable, Victoria guessed that the slytherin prefects must have already been around handing them out to the first years.

Victoria extended her hand out to look over her timetable that had been laid out on a piece of parchment; she wanted to get an idea of what she would be doing throughout the week. The timetable read:

****_Monday:_ ** **

_9.30am – 10.30am: Herbology with Ravenclaws (Professor Herbert Beery: Class 102 or greenhouses)_

_10.45am – 11.45am: Charms with Ravenclaw (Professor Rowena Tudro: Classroom 2E)_

_1:30pm – 2.30pm: History of magic with Hufflepuff ( ** **Professor**** Cuthbert Binns: Classroom 4F)_

_2.30pm – 3.30pm: Transfiguration with Hufflepuff (Professor Albus Dumbledore: Classroom 1B)_

****_Tuesday:_ ** **

_9.30am – 10.30am: Herbology (Professor Herbert Beery: Class 102 or greenhouses)_

_10.45am – 11.45am: Defence against the dark arts with Gryffindor’s (Professor Galatea Merrythought: Classroom 3C)_

_1.30pm – 2.30pm: Transfiguration (Professor Albus Dumbledore: Classroom 1B)_

_2.30pm – 3.30pm: Charms (Professor Rowena Tudro: Classroom 2E)_

****_Wednesday:_ ** **

_9.30am – 10.30am: Defence against the dark arts (Professor Galatea Merrythought: Classroom 3C)_

_10.45am – 11.45am: Potions with Gryffindor (Professor Horace Slughorn: Dungeons, left viaduct)_

_1.30pm – 2.30pm: Charms (Professor Rowena Tudro: Classroom 2E)_

_2.30pm – 3.30pm: History of magic ( ** **Professor**** Cuthbert Binns: Classroom 4F)_

_12am – 1am:_ _Astronomy with Hufflepuff (Professor_ _James Morgan:_ _****of the** ** _ _****)** ** _

****_Thursday:_ ** **

_9.30am – 10.30am: Defence against the dark arts (Professor Galatea Merrythought: Classroom 3C)_

_10.45am – 11.45am: Transfiguration (Professor Albus Dumbledore: Classroom 1B)_

_1.30pm – 2.30pm: History of magic ( ** **Professor**** Cuthbert Binns: Classroom 4F)_

_2.30pm – 3.30pm: Flying with Gryffindor (Professor_ _Grawp Whisp: Training grounds)_

****_Friday:_ ** **

_9.30am – 10.30am: Potions (Professor Horace Slughorn: Dungeons, left viaduct)_

_10.45am – 11.45am: Potions (Professor Horace Slughorn: Dungeons, left viaduct)_

_1.30pm – 2.30pm: Defence against the dark arts (Professor Galatea Merrythought: Classroom 3C)_

_2.30pm – 3.30pm: Herbology (Professor Herbert Beery: Class 102 or greenhouses)_

_12am – 1am:_ _Astronomy (Professor_ _James Morgan:_ _****of the** ** _ _****)** ** _

“You definitely don’t seem as excited as the others.”

The voice came from the bed beside her and when Victoria turned to look over at the source she noticed that it had come from an older student who was also still lay in bed and had clearly just been woken up by the ruckus as she had.

“Oh I am! It’s just too early in the morning for me for all of this.” Victoria responded, her voice still slightly groggy from sleep.

“Huh, I’m Marietta Bones by the way.” The elder student introduced herself, arms stretched above her head as she let the stiff bones of her arm crack obnoxiously.

“Victoria Chapman.” Victoria responded once more, eyes still focused on her timetable as though she was already attempting to memorise it word for word so it was embedded in her brain.

“Well you best get ready Victoria, especially if you plan to eat before your classes start.”

Though she didn’t particularly enjoy this girl telling her what to do, she did have a point. Victoria didn’t waste anytime getting herself ready for her first day; she dressed herself in her Slytherin uniform which consisted of a skirt, shirt, jumper and tie with her robes over the top. Her hair was pulled back into a side braid so that it didn’t get in her way throughout the day.

All whilst Victoria was getting herself ready she couldn’t help but overhear one of the elder students trying to pick a fight with another of the first years, Victoria of course couldn’t stop herself from looking over at the older student who seemed to be a tall but skinny raven haired witch with long silky locks and beautiful features. She was clearly the type of girl that had the beauty of an angel but the personality of a demon. The Victim which she had targeted was much younger and smaller than her, she wasn’t exactly slim but there was no reason for her to be bullied.

This elder student seemed to catch Victoria looking over at her and she noticed how quick her walls seemed to go up in defence of being stared, well glared at. Victoria’s eyes had narrowed into a glare at the mere sight of this elder student bullying another first year like her.

“Have you got a problem kid?” The female almost immediately snapped out in Victoria’s direction.

Marietta’s eyes almost instantly widened once she had noticed who Victoria had seemed to annoy and she reached forward to tug on Victoria’s robes in an attempt to move her away and out of the dorm, however Victoria had other plans and remained grounded to her spot.

“I'm just wondering how fragile your ego much be for you to pick a fight with someone who is inexperienced and unable to fight you back.”

Silence fell over the dormitory and Victoria didn’t see the problem with what she had said, Walburga seemed momentarily stunned and Marietta took that opportunity to start dragging Victoria out of the female dorm and towards the Slytherin Common room.

“What was that?!? Do you have any idea who that was?” Marietta exclaimed once they were out of the girls dormitory.

Victoria noticed that Lestrange, Avery and Riddle were all sat around on the sofa’s, seemingly engrossed in a deep conversation when the two girls entered the room. They didn’t pay any mind to them just as they didn’t to them as Victoria and Marietta sat on the sofa’s across from the boys, Victoria had to listen to Marietta continue to freak out before they decided to head off to get breakfast. They were ahead of time due to waking up early.

Reaching into her bag, Victoria pulled out her _Fantastic beasts and Where to find them by Newt Scamander_ and began to read, trying her hardest to block Marietta out.

“She’s not going to let that go! That was Walburga Black; they are a family you do not want to get on the bad side of.”

Almost as if on cue, Walburga Black came rushing into the Slytherin common room, face scarlet red from anger as her eyes searched for Victoria, finding her completely ignoring her and focused on the book in her hand.

“How dare you speak to me like that! Don’t you know who I am?” Walburga’s voice boomed out, gripping everyone in the common rooms attention other than Victoria’s.

Marietta nudged Victoria who finally looked up, noticing that everyone in the common room seemed to be staring at her, including the boys that she was sat across from.

“Sorry, were you speaking to me?” Victoria questioned almost like butter wouldn’t melt.

Lestrange let out a small snort and Avery shared a smirk with his friends but Victoria hadn’t seen either of their reactions since she’d been looking over at Walburga with such a disinterested gaze that it could have actually been deemed offensive.

“You know exactly who I’m talking to! You’re just a first year, you have no right speaking to me the way that you did!” Walburga retorted, her voice not once losing its rage.

Victoria sighed, evidently she was already bored with this topic and since she knew she wouldn’t be able to continue reading her book she decided to slide the bookmark into it and close it once more so that she could pack it away once again.

“I could say the same thing to you, Walburga.” Victoria began and before Walburga could ask her what she meant Victoria had continued on. “With someone that has such an impressive family reputation, isn’t it quite petty to pick victims in those that are unable to defend themselves?”

Walburga didn’t respond, she seemed unable to think of an answer to retort to Victoria’s statement. The dark haired first year rose up from her place on the sofa, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she did and she began to take calculated steps towards the elder student, blue eyes never once softening from the glare she was giving her.

“I may only be new Walburga but I am not weak, nor am I stupid. I know that greatness comes from aiming big and being ambitious, not from intimidating those that are already weak. That is how failures are made. . .” Victoria begins, the silence of the common room not once bothering her, she didn’t care that everyone could hear her. “However, despite the fact you are weak . . . should I see you intimidating those of our house that are not as strong, I will personally set it upon myself to make the remainder of your years here a living hell.”

Victoria didn’t wait for a response from the elder student and simply walked past her, making sure to barge her shoulder in the process. Victoria may have not done anything with magic to bring down the bully, however she used something that did just as much damage and that was humiliate her and destroy her reputation.

Marietta came running out of the common room and down the halls after Victoria, desperate to catch up with her and once she finally did she let out an excited squeal, shaking Victoria’s arm like the giddy school girl she was.

“I can’t believe you just did that!”

Victoria simply smiled to herself, she was quite proud of herself for doing what she had done but her heart was hammering in her chest from the adrenaline she had gotten from doing it. It was quite the thrill and she’d probably already made a reputation for herself.

Victoria sat herself down to get herself some toast and tea, she had laid her _by_ out open on the table in front of her since that was her first class and she had been skimming over the pages that she had already read before whilst listening to Marietta talking about how easy the first year classes were compared to hers.

Victoria took a bite out of her toast, not even taking notice when someone sat down next to her and others sat across from her. She’d just been reading over something to do with when someone finally spoke up.

“You’re not as quiet as we thought you were.”

Victoria lifted her head to meet the source of the posh sounding voice, only to lock eyes with Emlyn Avery. A slytherin boy who had neatly combed blonde hair and dark eyes, he seemed to be eying Victoria with genuine curiosity.

“Interesting observation, however I believe that he knew I wasn’t as quiet as I appeared.” Victoria responded whilst gesturing her piece of toast across the table to Reinhard Lestrange who was currently sat next to Tom Riddle, who for once seemed somewhat genuinely interested in the conversation.

Marietta who was sat on Victoria’s other side gestured to Victoria that she was going to head off to her class and Victoria simply gave her a nod of her head, she seemed to have made an impression on that girl and now she was tagging around with her.

“So, Vicky . . . where are you from then?” Lestrange decided to add in, much to Victoria’s confusion. These boys did not seem to like her at all yesterday.

“London, Whitechapel.” Victoria responded, though she seemed to be eying both Lestrange and Avery with a sceptical gaze.

“Oh, Tom here is from London too.” Avery mentions, gesturing over to their friend who didn’t seem particularly interested in the conversation anymore.

“There are a lot of people in this school from London.” Tom pointed out whilst looking over at his friend with his dark gaze, the same dark gaze that Victoria remembered from when she first met him.

“Where in London are you from?” Victoria decided to ask anyway, this was the first time she’d been given a proper opportunity to speak with Tom since he didn’t really come across as the talkative type.

Tom seemed hesitant to respond at first, his eyes momentarily seemed to send a glare in Victoria’s direction before all trace was wiped clear and his face appeared emotionless once more as he gave the small, yet simple answer of. “Orphanage.”

Victoria’s mouth opened to say something but instead of any words leaving her mouth, she seemed to let her mouth fall shut once more so that she could dwell on his response. It wasn’t an answer she’d expected, however when she recalls his clothes upon their first meeting it did make sense. How sad! And she’d believed that she’d had it hard throughout her childhood.

“Our family is originally from Normandy, however we moved over to England.” Avery decides to add in order to change the subject. “Lestrange’s family is from France originally.”

Victoria just simply nodded her head to him in response, it was incredibly un-relatable and though she didn’t care whatsoever she didn’t really want to be rude to them when they were clearly trying to be somewhat nice to her, she was forcing herself however to remain silent on the fact he clearly was unaware that Normandy was part of France.

“Normandy is part of France Avery; it’s a region of Northern France.” Tom spoke up, though his voice was much more forward than it had been previously.

Avery glanced over at Tom who was just staring at him with his emotionless face, Victoria had expecting him to appear at least smug however he once again didn’t seem to have a care in the world for this entire situation. Lestrange however seemed to find it all highly amusing.

“Well, as nice as this is . . . we should really get heading to Herbology unless we plan to be late on our first day.” Victoria decided to mention whilst closing up her book and sliding it back into her bag, it had been the second time this morning that her reading had been interrupted and she had a feeling that it wouldn’t be the last.

Herbology took place in class 102 which was in the south tower of Hogwarts. It was a relatively small classroom with an assortment of weeds and other smaller plants around. The slytherin class were being taught by Professor Herbert Beery who was a small, pudgy teacher with already greying hair that was styled almost like a cone on his head. His ropes were dark blue and quite patchy almost like they’d been ripped by something and hand sown back together.

Victoria had seated herself on a bench next to Avery who had been sat next to Lestrange who was sat next to Tom. The class had fallen silent upon the pudgy man gesturing to the class for them to quiet down; Victoria had already set her _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ _by_ _Phyllida Spore_ out on the table along with her ink bottle, quill and roll of parchment.

“Welcome to your first Herbology class and your first lesson at Hogwarts. I am delighted to be teaching you all, it’s always good to see the new generation of witches and wizards.” Herbert began, addressing the class with his gloved hands interlocked and resting on his stomach. “I am your Professor, Herbert Beery.”

Victoria watched the male as he moved forward to pick up an arrangement of green leaves that had been placed on his desk. He held them up nice and clear for the class to see them before he continued speaking.

“Now, today’s lesson we’ll be discussing something plain and simple, however rather useful. Now can anyone tell me what this is?”

Victoria remained silent and kept her hand down, however she did recognise the plant she didn’t want to raise her hand and risk the possibility of getting wrong, so she waited and hoped that someone else would.

“Ah, yes! You, boy. What is your name?” Professor Beery started, hand gesturing to the very table she was sat at.

“Tom sir, Tom Riddle.” The boy spoke up in response and Victoria glanced down the desk in his direction, curious to if he did truly know the answer.

“Well Mr. Riddle, what do you believe this to be?” The professor responded whilst holding the small plant out for the boy to look at closer.

“Wormwood, Sir which is also known as _Artemisia absinthium. It is a_ plant which grows in rocky waste areas all over the northern hemisphere, Artemisia, refers to the goddess Artemis, or Diana - the goddess of the moon and the hunt. It has a distant cousin in west America which is called Sagewood.” Tom quite confidently responded with his detailed answer and Victoria quite literally felt her jaw drop in those moments.

That was incredibly impressive and even his friends seemed shocked by his knowledge along with the rest of the class and the professor himself, Victoria actually found herself staring at Tom in total and utter astonishment.

“Excellent answer Mr. Riddle! 10 points awarded to Slytherin.” Professor Beery positively beamed at Tom as he awarded him, however Tom still appeared quite neutral. He was a boy of little expression.

Professor Beery went to place the plant down as he went on to speak about the parts of the world you could find this plant and how the muggles use them in medicines and a variety of alcohol before he asked yet another question.

“However, we use them for something different. Can anyone tell me what we use wormwood for?”

This time, Victoria did raise her hand and she immediately saw Professor Beery’s eyes land on her, as well as Avery, Lestranges and Tom’s since they were on the same table as her. The rest of the class Victoria had blocked out.

“Yes, Miss?” Professor Beery began once he’d picked on her.

“Victoria Chapman, Sir.” Victoria responded, quite proudly so too and she noticed a few people sharing some whispers, what happened this morning had gotten around quickly. “The wizarding world use infusions of wormwood in potions such as Draught of Living Death, Elixir to Induce Euphoria, and the Shrinking Solution. Essence of wormwood is also made from the plant.”

“Outstanding answer Miss Chapman! Another 10 points awarded to Slytherin! An excellent start for your house!” Professor Beery beamed once more as he clasped his gloved hands together. “Now, Let us write a description on how we infuse wormwood so that it can be used for potions!”

Victoria smiled to herself as she picked up her Quill and already began to write, completely ignoring the eyes that were on her belonging to Avery and Lestrange, she knew it wasn’t Tom since he was doing just as she was.

The lesson flew by and she soon found herself in room 2E for charms, the class took place in the training grounds tower on the third floor. The classroom had three rows of desks, all facing the teacher's table, behind which sat a large upholstered chair with a high back. Two blackboards flanked the teacher's table, and behind them is a small shelf with books and other objects which was beneath a pair of tall windows.

The charms teacher was Professor Rowena Tudro who was a tall, slender woman with long wavy fiery red hair, an arched and pointed nose and green distrusting eyes. Her ropes were tight and fitted to her figure as though she was attempting to show it off.

The charms class was quite slow and boring since all they were doing was writing about the levitation charm and discussing the swift hand movements that they were to do, Professor Tudro was quite a feisty woman with a short temper and Lestrange had made a comment on her temper matching her hair and ended up with a detention on his first day since she had overheard him.

At lunch Victoria had managed to find Michael who had announced his immediate hatred for potions class which he had just had with Professor Horace Slughorn before that he had Charms with Professor Rowena Tudro.

“You have no idea how much Slytherin’s hate Gryffindor’s Victoria.” Michael had grumbled out as they sat outside during their lunch break.

Victoria remained silent as she lifted her drink of juice up to her lips for a sip, waiting and allowing the realisation to settle in for Michael, who immediately coughed and muttered out. “Other than you of course.”

“I believe Professor Tudro hates everyone, she gave Lestrange a detention today and he is a Slytherin.” Victoria responded, allowing the comment to simply brush over.

“Yeah but he is annoying.” Michael almost immediately responded. “Him and his whole family are just annoying.”

Victoria let a small chuckle leave her lips as she had a bite of her sandwich, she hadn’t found Lestrange too bad considering but then again she was a Slytherin and Michael was a Gryffindor and both were pure bloods, which was bound to raise some family rivalry.

“I heard you gave Walburga Black some grief this morning.” Michael mentioned, deciding to change the subject.

“It seems everyone seems to know already.” Victoria mumbled out, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, Alphard Black told me and Rubeus this morning.” Michael explained with a small yet somewhat proud smile. “Nice going.”

“Here I expected an annoyed little brother to be hunting me down.” Victoria muttered out whilst dusting the crumbs of her sandwich off her hands.

“No way, Alphard seems to hate his older sister. He’d be happy if you sorted her out.” Michael mumbled out whilst looking over his timetable that he’d grabbed from his robes. “Yeah, I’ve gotta get going. I have Herbology with Ravenclaw.”

Victoria bid Michael farewell and sat finishing off her lunch before setting off on her way to History of magic in classroom 4F which was on the first floor of the castle which is why she didn’t rush like Michael had. The classroom was dark and gloomy with three rows of desks as the other class had; it had bookshelves filling the front wall with history of magic books.

The professor wasCuthbert Binns who wore very formal appearing clothing that were neatly put together he appeared incredibly shrivelled almost appearing like an old tortoise when if he pursed his lips. He wore glasses, which were small and thick, and had a dry, reedy voice that sounded a lot like an old vacuum cleaner, droning on and on. The voice was incredibly boring that no matter how interesting the topic of the Gargoyle Strike of 1911 (The topic they were learning) was, it was enough to send nearly everyone in the class to sleep. Victoria had been in the same boat as Lestrange and Avery and had been fighting to stay awake whilst she’d noticed Tom rubbing his eyes and making notes.

After history of magic, they had their final class in room 1B which was on the ground floor around the middle courtyard. The classroom was big and surrounded by high windows, unlike the other class this one had four rows of three desks, and still had enough room for several cages, bookshelves, two golden cat statues, two chalkboards, and a desk for the professor that hat had several candlesticks stood lit behind it.

The professor was someone that all the class already recognised, Professor Albus Dumbledore who had stood before the class in his flamboyant robes and spoken with such a hypnotic tone that as he taught the class something as boring as the Transfiguration alphabet everyone still seemed to hang onto his every word.

By the end of the day, Victoria had found herself sat in the slytherin common room surrounded by her books as she worked on her homework with Avery, Lestrange was serving his detention and Tom had gone to work in the slytherin dorm alone.

“What is it with Tom?” Victoria decided to ask Avery with a curious glance his way.

“Hm?” Avery decided to question without looking up from his parchment as he wrote out the need for the Transfiguration alphabet.

“He’s so quiet and he doesn’t seem to smile or anything . . .” Victoria pointed out whilst focusing on her own history of magic homework.

“I don’t know, he just doesn’t.” Avery responds with a shrug of his shoulders, not once looking up. “Ask him yourself.”

Victoria fell silent at that as she tried to figure out how she could exactly do just that.

“I have just scrubbed every damn trophy in the trophy room and I feel like my hands are going to fall off.” Lestrange announced as he came sauntering into the common room, his curled hair falling into his eyes slightly.

“You still have homework to do.” Avery points out, once again without even looking up at Lestrange.

Victoria thought she could visibly see Lestrange lose the will to live as he walked his way up towards the male dormitory, almost dragging his feet in the process as he muttered away to himself. Victoria simply watched him as she thought about how she could approach and talk to Tom properly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos and comments for more, I love hearing your feedback! :)


	6. The hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria finally gets to talk to the already popular Tom Riddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I didn't realise it had been so long. I've been working on a lot of other works but don't worry, I still have a lot of muse for this. Enjoy however :)

The first week at Hogwarts had gone by too quickly to even keep track of, it had been routine for her to eat, go to lessons and then study and do homework throughout her lunch and after lessons in the common room before bed and Victoria's second week seemed to be going by just as quickly and pretty much the same, her first class of this Wednesday had been defence against the dark arts withGalatea Merrythought who was a petite woman with long wild blonde curls that trailed down to the top of her knees, she wore exotic and unique clothes that Victoria honestly thought were incredibly ugly. Despite being the head of Ravenclaw, she seemed to have a particular interest in one slytherin first year, Tom Riddle. Ever since he had shown his vast knowledge in Gytrashes in their first class last Wednesday and then again in every other defence against the dark arts class they had since, Tom had quickly become her favourite. It seemed whatever question she asked him, he knew the answer to and every question she didn't ask him, he knew the answer too. It wasn't just Defence against the dark arts either, every one of their classes Tom seemed brilliant in and every teacher and student seemed to love being in his presence, especially the Slytherin head, Professor Slughorn. He was the student everyone wanted to be friends with and she didn't blame them.

Throughout the whole of Defence against the dark arts, she'd watched everyone in their class try to suck up to him because he was suddenly the most popular student to ever exist amongst students and teachers alike, everyone constantly praised him and it just made her roll her eyes so much she believed her eyes would roll out of their sockets at some point.

Victoria, unlike most students admired his intellect and not his popularity, yet she tried to distance herself from the group he was a member of, it wasn't that she didn't like them or him it was that she enjoyed being on her own and she had realised very quickly than it was pretty much impossible to do any work with Avery and Lestrange around. However, she had tried to get close to Tom originally but he just didn't seem to like her at all, no matter what she said or did he just seemed to ignore her and it was infuriating to her, it was even worse when Professor Slughorn paired them both up together in Potions since they were both the best students, each class went by incredibly slowly because he just wouldn't even acknowledge her existence. It felt much longer than a week, so much had already changed.

It didn't help that everyone seemed to think she had a target on her back, apparently pissing off Walburga Black was an incredibly dangerous thing to do and so the rumours had spread that she was planning on hexing or cursing Victoria, that there was going to be some big duel happening. Victoria didn't care for the rumours, nor did she believe any of them as she'd noticed a frequent absence of Walburga's presence from the Slytherin common room.

Victoria sat in her potions lesson not even listening to Professor Slughorn as he went on about the forgetfulness potion, she was more bothered about being next to the boy who she actually really admired, yet he seemed to absolutely hate her for reasons she didn't know and so she ignored his existence as best as she could, just as he had always done to her, even being in his presence was infuriating to her and so she zoned out, trying to figure out reasons why he hated her. Lestrange who was on the other table, partnered with Alphard Black seemed to find Victoria's expression incredibly amusing; she had just been sat there glaring at thin air for about ten minutes.

Once Victoria had noticed how Lestrange seemed to be feeding off her misery, she turned away to continue her silent, angry daydream only she was instead staring directly at Tom himself, glaring away to herself as memories of their encounters ran through her mind, she was sure, no she was **_certain_** that she had done nothing to make him dislike her.

Her path was only snapped out by the fact she now felt Tom staring at her, she didn't know how to react when she now knowingly met his gaze, his expression as unreadable as always as he stared at her with those dark brown orbs of his. He was silent, just staring and Victoria wasn't even sure how to begin to explain the situation she had now found herself in with the boy who seemed to hate her very existence.

"What?" Victoria finally broke the silence, acting as though he had started this whole scenario.

"What?" Tom responded back, actually acknowledging her for once when she spoke to him, a rarity that anyone seemed to get from him.

"What is your problem? Why are you staring at me?" Victoria went on, once again acting as though she had no idea why he was looking at her when it was actually her fault.

"You started it." Tom responded quite quickly, though he didn't seem to stop at all.

"No I didn't." Victoria quickly responded in a harsh whisper, something that seemed to make Tom give a subtle smirk. "Stop it."

"Why should I?" Tom countered; dark brown orbs making Victoria feel as though she was stuck to her seat. "As far as Avery says, you want my attention."

"Because it's rude, didn't your mother ever teach you manners?" Victoria quickly shot back in defence cheeks redder than a tomato; however she was immediately hit with a pang of guilt once her words left her lips since she had remembered Tom grew up in an orphanage.

Silence fell over the pair; Tom still didn't stop staring at her and despite what she had just said she didn't seem to see any emotion in his face. There was expected to be sadness, anger even but she didn't seem to see a sign of any of that, he simply watched her as she finally looked away from him with guilt.

"I'm so sorry, I completely forgot." Victoria admitted, a hand coming up to rub over her face as she internally cursed herself for being so stupid. "No wonder you hate me."

Tom, who continued to simply stare at her as she rambled out to herself finally turned away to focus on the parchment on the table in front of him, dabbing his quill in some ink he began to make notes on the potion that Professor Slughorn had been explaining to the class.

"Funny, isn't it?" Tom starts off, eyes now glued to the parchment as he focuses on the notes he was taking.

"What is?" Victoria decides to ask him, eyes now looking up from her own paper to focus on the boy next to her.

"How quickly people can jump to assumptions." Tom answers her without a hesitation; this was the most she'd ever heard him speak, well to her anyway.

"I didn't jump to any assumptions." Victoria is quick to defend herself, now turning in her seat to look directly at him, her face showing her visible irritation with him.

Tom looked up from his parchment, dark murky depths staring directly into her own ocean blue eyes as he contemplates her words, not caring in the slightest for her visible anger.

"I don't believe you." Tom responded, his voice completely monotone and emotionless. "I haven't given you any reason to think I hate you."

Victoria was completely dumbfounded, she was quite sure that he was acting as though he hated her. Her eyes focused only him and Tom did nothing but watch as confusion replaced her anger before he returned back to his work, knowing that Victoria was now not even believing herself anymore.

"I know you didn't but—"Victoria began but Tom was quick to cut her off.

"As you just said, I didn't. There isn't any but about it."

The rest of the class was rather quiet and Tom seemed to return to how he usual was and began ignoring her existence once again, only fuelling Victoria's anger all the more. At lunch, Victoria found herself sat with Kevin who was a Third year Hufflepuff student that Victoria had befriended throughout the weeks there, she preferred mature company since she was incredibly mature for her age.

"I hate him, he's so infuriating." Victoria ranted out as they sat together on a bench in the courtyard. "I swear, he thinks he's better than me or something."

"It sounds like he is; I mean he is the top of the class already in everything by the looks of it." Kevin responded quickly, biting into an apple after he had.

"You're supposed to be on my side." Victoria quickly shot back, glaring over at Kevin as he gave a shrug chewing on the piece of apple in his mouth.

"I never said I was on any side, I'm just saying that he is probably better than you . . . "Kevin responded, noting how Victoria was looking at him however he decided to rephrase his words. "In defence against the dark arts, you're probably better than him in potions."

Victoria threw her head back against the bench they were both sat on, silence falling over them both as Kevin ate his apple in peace. The silence was starting to make her feel a little better, until she noticed none other than Tom Riddle walking through the courtyard with Lestrange and Avery, both of which smirked over at Victoria once they noticed her glaring over at the group.

Kevin, who had sensed the tension between them all decided to speak up in an attempt to somehow offer a solution to Victoria's problems.

"If you want to be better than him in Defence against the dark arts, why don't you ask my house head, Professor Scamander?"

Victoria was silent at that suggestion, it wasn't exactly a bad idea since he was a magizoologist and he did seem to be fond of Victoria from the small amount of time she had spent with him, it wouldn't be too much to ask of him surely, she would just have to come up with a better reason than trying to piss off a boy in her house.

"He is nice enough to tutor you privately. I don't think he would mind."

"You're right, I will ask him." Victoria quickly responded, leaning over to leave a soft, quick kiss on Kevin's cheek in the process as she tried to ignore the staring from Tom's little group.

Victoria grabbed her stuff together and got up to leave, however she didn't get far since she bumped into Michael who was with the half giant Hagrid, someone Victoria had only spoken to once or twice.

"How are ya' doin' Victoria?" Hagrid greeted with his usual beam upon his lips as always, one that Victoria couldn't help but return.

"I was wondering where you were, I thought you'd got detention." Michael pointed out as he noticed Victoria and then Kevin sat over on the bench. "Where are you going?"

"To find Professor Scamander, you wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?" Victoria decided to try her look and ask, hopefully Hagrid knew since he seemed to be quite fond of him.

"Why are you looking for him?" Michael couldn't help but ask, also noticing Tom Riddle's gang staring at them in the distance. "What are they looking at?"

"Most likely me, I had a little bit of a bicker with Tom in potions class." Victoria responded, actually seemingly somewhat bashful and knowing exactly who Michael was talking about without even needing to look.

"Ah." Michael responded, short but sweet.

"I'm looking for Professor Scamander because I'm hoping he can help me out in Defence against the dark arts." Victoria explains properly to the pair. "Tom is constantly better than everyone at everything and I want to knock off his crown."

Michael seemed to find that quite funny and he actually let out a bit of a laugh, Hagrid however did not find it funny and waved Michael off before beginning to help Victoria out.

"Professor Scamander is in the hut down towar' the dark fores'." Hagrid begins before clearing his throat as he pat Victoria on the shoulder as a sort of comfort, however with his strength he nearly knocked her over with one pat. "Don' you worry, Victoria. You'll learn fast enough wi' him."

"Thanks Hagrid." Victoria quickly responded before rushing past them, she wanted to get there before the next class.

Victoria found herself practically flying down the hill towards the little hut, the front door was wide open but Victoria still knocked on the door out of politeness and basic mannerisms, however there was no answer, so Victoria peaked in but all she saw was a briefcase lay in the middle of the ground.

"Hello? Mr. Scamander?" Victoria called out, however to no avail since there was neither response nor noise to be heard.

Victoria was about to turn around return to the castle defeated before she noticed the suitcase open and much to Victoria's astonishment, Professor Scamander climbed out of it as though he was climbing up a ladder or some stairs, covered in what appeared to be mud as he muttered away to himself exasperated.

Victoria, noticing that it didn't seem to be the best time slowly stepped backwards, hitting the door in the process that creaked and immediately caught the attention of the reddy brown haired wizard, whose soft blue eye's immediately landed on Victoria in the doorway.

"Ah, Victoria. I apologise if I seem a little off from my normal behaviour." Newt immediately began, a hand running through his hair as he made work of sealing up his briefcase. "I have recently been working on rehabilitating a Snallygaster. It is quite a complex process; they can be very distrusting creatures."

Victoria, who had no idea what he was talking about found herself stepping back inside ever so slightly with a raised brow, something that Newt recognised immediately and so he began explaining.

"They are a distant relative of the Occamy and much like a dragon; however they are half bird, half reptile and can't breathe fire. They have teeth made from serrated steel that can slice through their victims and bullet-proof hide. Naturally, they are very curious however distrusting."

Victoria practically hung onto every word he had said, taking a seat that Newt had offered her as he spoke, sitting across from her in the process. He was an incredibly nice person, awkward but nice.

"But you did not come here to learn about Snallygasters." Newt stutters out with that small, sweet smile she had seen when she had first met him. "What is it I can help you with?"

Victoria found herself hesitating at first; however Newt's calming aura caused her to feel a little more reassured since she knew that he was much nicer than most people she had come across these days.

"I was wondering if you would help me . . . well tutor me in creatures and defence against the dark arts." Victoria begins, carefully picking her words and when she notices Newt seemingly hesitate she quickly begins to panic her words out. "No, it's just I know that we don't do care for magical creatures until the third year and I've read your book front to back multiple times, I am incredibly mature for my age and it is something I am incredibly interested in."

Newt contemplates Victoria's words, he could tell by her panic that she was genuine and he had noticed how mature she was for her age; however he could get into trouble for teaching her at such a young age. It wasn't illegal; however it was dangerous for her. He was hesitant since he was surprised he had even got this job as it was, being expelled from Hogwarts himself as a student, but he could see the passion in her eyes and it reminded him of how he was as a student.

"Very well, I will." He responded hesitantly however he raised his hand upon noticing how her face lit up. "However, you cannot tell anyone since I could get into trouble for agreeing to do this. Weekends only, at lunch."

Victoria could have hugged him for this, however she didn't since she knew it was incredibly inappropriate but she did beam at him, something she very rarely did.

"Thank you, I really appreciate this."

The rest of the day went by quite peacefully; Victoria was walking around with a smile on her face like the cat that had got the cream, much to the annoyance of Tom Riddle's group. It didn't seem to bother Tom, but it did annoy Lestrange since he was enjoying watching her so pissed off.

By the end of the day, Victoria had found herself in her usual routine on a Wednesday, whilst most of the first year slytherin's were sleeping before Astronomy with Hufflepuff at midnight, other than Tom's gang, she was doing her homework, currently defence against the dark arts, whilst she did everything in her power to block out their conversations from the table she sat at. Tom had been playing against Lestrange and Avery at wizards chess and had beat them both from what she had heard amongst the noise Lestrange and Avery were making.

"Could you be any louder?" Victoria found herself saying as she glared over at the group.

Tom, who was still sat at the chess board didn't say anything or even acknowledge the fact that Victoria had spoke as he used a spell to repair the smashed pieces of the set on the board. Lestrange and Avery however, did acknowledge her.

"Oh we are sorry." Lestrange mocked out sarcastically.

"Yeah, it isn't our fault you're behind in your homework because you spent your lunch with your badger boyfriend." Avery added on to what Lestrange had said.

"He is not my boyfriend." Victoria responded with a deadpanned expression. "Not that it's any of your business if it was."

"Enough." Tom spoke up, mostly to Avery and Lestrange as he looked up from the board finally, all the pieces amended once more. "Victoria, come and play against me."

"No." Victoria quickly responded, immediately shooting him down as she focused back on her work. "I have work to do."

"I wasn't asking you." Tom immediately responded to her.

Lestrange and Avery were looking backwards and forwards between the two who were on opposite sides of the common room, they weren't quite sure what Tom was up to since he had never really spoken to Victoria much before today.

"I don't care." Victoria quickly deadpanned back. "I don't know how to play chess and I have an essay on curing werewolf bites to do."

"I will teach you." Tom suggested, causing Victoria to finally look up from her work she seemed to be wondering the exact same thing as his own friends did. "If you agree to play against me, I will help you with your essay."

Victoria wasn't sure what to say or how to react to this offering, she did want to have a break but the idea of spending it in his company wasn't the most appealing thought and the idea of him helping her with her defence against the dark arts essay was just degrading.

"Well?" Tom questions her once more, his dark eyes focused solely on her as he blocks his friends out.

Throwing her book to the side she mutters out a quick. "Fine." As she stands herself up and walks past his two friends so that she can sit across from him and actually learn how to play some chess, whether or not she'd let him help her with the essay however was another story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos and comments for more, I love hearing feedback from you all :)


	7. A time of giving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its the time of year for birthday's and christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, I have been ill as many of you will know if you read my other stories. There is going to be a big time jump after this chapter since I do want to move on to when they're older, most of my plans take part in their later years together.

Throughout the months leading up to Christmas Holiday’s, Victoria had set it as a personal task to learn how to play chess properly so she had been learning from Michael Schofield, the Gryffindor first year. Tom had of course beat her when she had played against him that night, however she had surprisingly had fun playing it, but that hadn’t changed the fact she did want to get better than him at it, competitiveness was one of her only childish traits.

Of course when October 31st came, everyone had been celebrating Halloween with the Halloween feast and Victoria for the first time in a while, managed to have a secret and quiet birthday 12th birthday. It was surprising that she had gotten away with that in the first place since Marietta Bones had screamed happy birthday at her in the slytherin common room, luckily for her though there was only Victoria, Lestrange, Avery and Tom present and Victoria knew they wouldn’t care if it was her birthday or not, if anything Tom just seemed incredibly annoyed that his reading had been disturbed by an annoying, screaming girl. He had however wished her happy birthday in his own, strange way by saying. “Congratulations, you’re twelve.” From behind his book, however even that was more than Victoria had expected from him.

At Christmas, much like the majority of students Victoria had returned home for the holiday’s and as far as she was aware, so did most of the people she knew, other than Tom but she guessed that spending Christmas at Hogwarts would be better than spending it at the orphanage. Throughout her Christmas holiday, she had spent her time studying and completely her homework, she even managed to beat Albert and Jack at ordinary chess. Towards the end of the Christmas holidays Victoria had received an owl from Professor Scamander, the owl was carrying a package that Victoria guessed had including what she had requested him to obtain for her and a letter which read:

_Dear Victoria,_

_I managed to get this made in a muggle shop called Winstanley’s bookstore & stationers on Vauxhall road in London if you wish to return it. I do hope this is what you imagined when you requested this of me, I do believe what you are doing is a very kind and generous act but that is something that does not surprise me as you are a very kind hearted girl._

_Good luck._

_Professor Newt Scamander._

Victoria placed the note aside and grabbed the package from the owl so that she could unwrap it and inside was something she had only imagined up until now. It had taken her a while to think of the perfect gift but in the end, she decided on this. A black leather diary, completely blank with bronze metal corners, on the front customised personally was the initials ** _”T. M. Riddle.”_** Victoria had decided to only have the initials for the first and middle name since she didn’t actually remember what his middle name was but she had found out from a very reliable source that Tom’s birthday had been on New Year ’s Day, so she was determined to try and be nice to him somehow.

After the Christmas holiday’s everyone returned back to Hogwarts and Victoria had wrapped up her present for Tom before her return back to the castle, she decided not to immediately give him the gift and instead decided to buy her time and wait, they had been incredibly busy with lessons and homework anyway but eventually, she found the perfect moment.

Tom was pretty much alone in the slytherin common room, reading as usual. Victoria assumed his friends had all gotten detention and since it was a weekend, everyone else was out and about somewhere or another with their friends so the common room was relatively empty, apart for one or two people.

Victoria threw herself down next to Tom, immediately catching his attention since nobody really sat near him unless they were part of his group and since the holidays, she had noticed more and more people whispering his name and avoiding him like the plague and she wasn’t entirely sure why.

Tom glanced up at her for a moment, giving her one of those looks that would have usually made anyone else leave in a haste but once he realised that Victoria wasn’t budging, he closed his book on his bookmark and placed it next to him on the sofa, Victoria hadn’t even spoken to him since he had assisted her with her Defence against the dark arts homework.

“Yes?” Tom finally spoke breaking the silence and raising an eyebrow at her.

“I have something for you.” Victoria almost immediately responded, indicating that she had been waiting for him to acknowledge her.

Victoria noticed quite quickly that Tom seemed a mixture of confused and sceptical by her words, especially since she had barely even acknowledged him since their return to school but even so, she did have his attention. His attention that most people outside of slytherin would rather not have lately with the quickly circling news.

“Now don’t expect a diamond ring or whatever but. . .” Victoria began, noticing that Tom didn’t even seem mildly amused by her little joke to him. “I did get you something since a little birdy told me that it was your birthday on new years day.”

Tom seemed briefly shocked by her knowledge of his birthday but he quickly hid that shock from her as quick as it became present on his features, instead he let a display of visible irritation show.

“How did you find out when my birthday is?” Tom decided to ask despite clearly not wanting to continue taking part in this conversation.

“Okay, you seem angry.” Victoria begins, allowing her fingers to drum against the wrapped gift in her hand. “But, it took me quite a while. I actually had to do a lot of sweet talking and praising to get it but Professor Slughorn eventually caved, he told me everything I needed to know.”

Tom let the irritation fall from his face and at first she thought she may have seen an indication of him being impressed by her hard work and somewhat forms of manipulation, he even gave a brief upturn of his lips but it all disappeared quiet quickly.

“But anyway, here.” Victoria finally scrambled out, handing him the present quickly and for once, she actually felt quite nervous. “This is for a late happy birthday and merry christmas!”

Tom took the gift from her and Victoria imagined it was probably strange for him, growing up in an orphanage with no relatives she imagined he didn’t really get any gifts from people and since nobody really knew much about him, she imagined nobody really got him anything for his birthday from school either. Tom unwrapped the wrapping paper from around the present and had to flip it over to get a look at his personalised name on the diary and for a moment she thought she may have seen Tom actually smile to himself but Victoria convinced herself that she had just imagined that.

He looked at the gift for quiet a while before he finally looked up to meet Victoria’s gaze once more, for once Victoria didn’t feel like he was going to hex her or worse, she didn’t feel like a bother in his company.

“Thank you Victoria.” Tom finally spoke up, shocking Victoria for a moment and she almost found herself asking him to repeat those words so she knew she hadn’t just imagined them.

“You’re welcome Tom.” Victoria responded with a soft smile that she hadn’t even realised had made its way onto her lips.

“Riddle! Everyone is talking about you all over the school.” Lestranges voice called out as he and Avery entered the common room.

Victoria quickly stood herself up once she had noticed Lestrange and Avery stood in the doorway, looking immediately confused by the sight of Victoria and Tom talking to one another and seemingly getting along.

“I’ll uh, see you around.” Victoria quickly stuttered out, clearing her throat soon after as she began to head towards the exit to the common room.

Now to see Professor Scamander and thank him for getting the gift for her.

As she began to pass by the great hall, she heard the sound of footsteps running up behind her to catch up to her and it didn’t take long for the two people to be walking at either side of her, these people were Kevin the third year Hufflepuff and Michael the first year Gryffindor.

“You were right about that Tom Riddle guy.” Kevin suddenly said as he walked to the right of her.

“I changed my mind, he’s alright actually. I’ve just been talking to him.” Victoria responds nonchalantly.

“What? Victoria, have you not heard?” Michael exclaims just as they reach the courtyard, grabbing Victoria’s arm to pull her to a stop.

“I’ve heard he’s the talk of the school but that’s all I’ve heard.” Victoria responds, clearly exasperated by the conversation.

“People think he’s the heir of Slytherin.” Kevin almost immediately responds.

“What?” Victoria’s voice came out sounding genuinely confused.

“The heir of slytherin. A descendant of Salazar Slytherin. His middle name is Marvolo. Tom Marvolo Riddle, remember? He told us on the boat.” Michael points out to Victoria the name that she had actually forgotten about.

“Oh yeah, that’s his middle name. I knew it began with an M but I couldn’t remember the rest, but what’s your point?”

“Marvolo Gaunt. The Gaunt family are descendants of the Slytherin family. Tom is an heir of Salazar Slytherin.” Michael points out as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Victoria squinted at Michael, as though she was attempting to catch him in a lie but it all became clear very quickly to her, she began to realise who had been spreading the rumours around.

“You’re who has told everyone . . . Michael, why? You don’t even know if it’s true, anyone could have given him that middle name. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“It is true.” Michael states out.

“You’ve got to admit Victoria, it is pretty obvious. It makes sense.” Kevin adds on, perking up finally.

Victoria debated their words for a few moments before she shook her head, it just couldn’t be possible. He couldn’t be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, it just didn’t seem right.

“I overheard him telling Lestrange that he can speak to snakes.” Kevin once more adds on.

“Only descendants of Slytherin can speak to snakes.” Michael points out to Victoria, explaining where Kevin was going with his add on.

Now that was a red flag, even Victoria had to admit that was a quiet strange and almost a little too coincidental and she was just about to comment on it when a voice caught her attention, causing her to turn around.

“Ah, Miss. Chapman. I wish to speak with you.”

It was Professor Scamander.

Once Victoria had turned back around Michael and Kevin had gone, so she following Professor Scamander into the empty classroom, she had been trying to find him anyway.

“Now, if I am correct it was your birthday on Halloween, yes?”

Victoria wasn’t sure where he was going with this but she nodded at him, only now noticing that he had the briefcase with him that Victoria had witnessed him climb out off when she had gone to visit him a few months back.

“Well, I couldn’t help but notice that you are without a pet unlike most students.” Newt began, opening his briefcase and reaching in to retrieve something. “And since you have been doing so brilliantly in our private sessions, I thought perhaps you could have him.”

As Newt turned around, Victoria met eyes with one of the cutest creatures she had ever seen. It was a rodent like creature with a long snout that reminded Victoria of a platypus, it had a black coat that seemed to be quite fluffy. Victoria recognised this as a Niffler, though this Niffle was clearly only young and not fully grown.

“A niffler? You’re giving him to me?” Victoria questioned her professor in a voice laced in astonishment.

“Of course, I wouldn’t trust him in anyone else’s care.” Newt responded, holding the sniffling creature out for Victoria to take.

Victoria looked into the large, innocent looking eyes of the small creature as she took it into her arms; its snout was sniffling up at her as it attempted to figure her out.

“I don’t know what to say . . .” Victoria responded, clearly overwhelmed by his gift.

“Just don’t tell anyone that I gave him to you, otherwise I will be in quiet a lot of trouble and try to keep him from stealing anything shiny in the castle if you can.” Newt quickly scrambles out, clearly nervous about the possible consequences of this gift.

“I’ll try my best . . . What is his name?”

“I haven’t actually named him; I thought perhaps you would want to do that honour.” Newt reveals to her with the smallest of smiles.

“I think I’ll name him Bandit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave Kudos and comments for more :)


	8. Time Flies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is now Victoria's Fifth year at Hogwarts and many things have changed in the five years she has spent in the wizarding world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, real life has been busy with university. I decided to do a time jump so that I could explore older Tom, it is much easier to write him just before he starts with opening the chamber of secrets. He is going to be a much more prominent character now and we are about to go on an emotional rollercoaster people.

“Concentrate Victoria!” Newt’s voice called out as he stood across from her on the duelling platform.

The now nearly sixteen-year-old girl stood across from the infamous magizoologist with her wand raised, she had grown into quite the young beauty with long, silky dark brown locks that would usually flow down to her mid back if they were not tied back into a high ponytail.

So much had happened over the past few years, starting with the muggle’s second world war, something which had deeply affected her own family and then to make matters worse, Gellert Grindelwald had started a wizarding war which had sent both worlds into complete and utter chaos. She had also realised (thanks to Professor Scamander and Dumbledore) during this time that she was more than just an ordinary witch but that she was also a Metamorphmagus, she had always known she was able to change parts of her body (such as her hair colour) as Albert had told her that was one of the gifts she had displayed from a young age, Victoria however believed it was just a normal thing witches could do. However, after researching into her family’s history Dumbledore was quick to inform her different and that being a Metamorphmagus was a very extraordinary and rare gift that was hereditary and therefore a gift a witch or wizard was born with, not gained through a process like a normal animagus and thus, Dumbledore advised her not to share the knowledge of this gift with anyone else.

And so, Professor Scamander had begun not only to teach her how to duel, about the dark arts and about creatures. . . but also how to control her own abilities. Honestly, Victoria knew that she owed him more than her life at this point, and she trusted him more than anyone.

School wise, Victoria had become one of the most popular girls in the entire school with her display of power, outstanding grades, and her beauty, though she had not really cared for the popularity and had tried to avoid it at all costs.

The fifth-year classes weren’t too much of a struggle for her, they were still forced to study the basic classes which were: Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and Herbology, but during her third year she had also picked two classes to take as her choices and those were Care for magical creatures (which she shred with Tom, Lestrange and Avery) and divination (which she only shared with Tom). However, her talents had landed her with the job of being a school prefect, alongside someone who had grown increasingly more feared across the school for his intimidating reputation and that was Tom Riddle, who everyone believed was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin and so naturally, he terrified them well. . . most of them, many of the Slytherin students seemed to stick to him like glue, they were his followers that craved to share his glory and share his ambition, they were sheep that needed a herder. Tom Riddles little gang were called the Knights of Walpurgis and they usually came together at the Slug Club, a gathering that professor Slughorn put together of all his favourite students. It was funny, he was either feared or desired.

Over the years Tom had not only grown more brilliant but he had also grown more attractive, it was impossible to find a fault with him other than his intimidating aura of course and many of the Slytherin girls seemed to throw themselves at his feet, desperate for his approval and attention that he never gave them. It did amuse Victoria to know that some women could be so pathetic, it was not that she herself was not attracted to her fellow prefect that she had known since their first year at Hogwarts, she just knew that Tom had higher ambitions than wasting his time on girls, even if he did seem to enjoy her company more than the other Slytherin girls.

“You seem to be lost in your thoughts today.” Newt stated once he noticed Victoria’s seemingly distracted state.

“Professor Slughorn invited me to his little club in my last potions class. . . I don’t know if I want to join it or not.” Victoria openly admitted, Newt had been someone that she had grown close enough to share information with, especially after all his guidance. “And before you ask, it’s not because of Riddle and his little group.”

Newt lowered his wand, causing Victoria to do the same as he showed one of his usual awkward yet amused smiles, something which was obviously aimed at her little comment on the club and Tom Riddle’s group.

“I wasn’t going to ask if that was the reason.” Newt points out as he slips his wand into his jacket pocket. “However, now I must admit that I am quite curious as to why you jumped to that conclusion.”

Victoria could have cursed herself as she hopped down from the duelling platform, slipping her wand into the pocket of her robe shortly after, she may as well start digging her grave since she knew all too well that Newt was not exactly fond of Riddle. His close bond to Professor Dumbledore must have had something to do with it since Tom had stated on many occasions when he had caught Victoria speaking with him after their transfiguration classes that Dumbledore did not like him and never had, he had never explained why exactly but she imagined it was for a similar reason as Professor Tudro’s dislike of her. . . which is that there is no reason, they just take a dislike of you for the sheer fun of it.

“He hasn’t outwardly said it, but I think Tom wants me to join his little group that he has going on and I feel like if I go to this meeting because Slughorn specifically invited me, then Tom is going to think that’s me joining his gang.” Victoria explains, folding her arms over her chest as a soft exhale passes her lips. “Yes, I speak to him, do my work with him, partner up with him in class and spend time with him in the common room but it doesn’t mean I was to join his little group.”

Now that she listed how much time she seemed to spend time with Tom out loud, she found herself frowning in confusion, she had never noticed just how much time she seemed to spend in his and his friends’ company and It honestly now just made it sound as though she was in some sort of denial.

Newt seemed deep in thought at those words, he slipped down to sit on the edge of the duelling platform hands fidgeting with one another as his eyes flickered up to watch over Victoria who now just seemed visibly uncomfortable by the topic.

“What makes you think he wants you to join them?” Newt decided to ask her, and his question caught her off guard, she expected him to warn her against being around him as much as she was, like he usually did.

“Everywhere I go one of his friends are there. . . it’s almost like they’re spying on me. I walk through the halls and they will not be far behind me. I know I sound paranoid, but I know what I’m seeing, and I know that I’m- “

Before she could continue, she had noticed that Newt was looking at his pocket watch, a frown very quickly becoming present on his features as his focus remained on his watch.

“Shoot, I am terribly sorry Victoria, but I seem to have kept you here much longer than I was supposed to and now you are running late for your defence against the dark arts class with Professor Merrythought.” Newt reveals, voice filled with a deep found sympathy, eyes matching its tone once they reconnected with her own.

“Don’t worry about it Newt.” Victoria, despite being one of his students had earned the privilege to address Newt by his first name, but only whilst there were not any other students around. “We’re only doing about Ghoul’s. . . which I know plenty about thanks to you.”

Newt seemed to go somewhat bashful at Victoria’s comment, giving a coy smile as he turned his gaze down to his pockets, popping his watch away before raising up to his feet.

“Come on, let me escort you to your class so that you don’t get detention.”

The trip from one of the spare classrooms on the first floor to the third-floor classroom of 3C which was just off the serpentine corridor took quite a while and Victoria began to wonder why she had even bothered; she knew by the time she arrived at the class they would be readying to finish but she supposed Newt was trying to prevent her from getting into trouble should they question her absence from class without him being there to defend her.

Newt knocked on the class door, gripping both the Professor and the student’s attention almost immediately and Victoria’s eyes met the dark depth’s of Tom Riddle’s from where he sat at the front of the class between Avery and Lestrange, their eyes only met for the briefest of seconds before he turned his attention back to his parchment, leaving the staring at her to Avery and Lestrange.

“I apologise for the interruption; I came to return Miss Chapman to you. Victoria has been assisting me with tending to my Occamy hatchlings, they have been rather difficult to manage alone in these past few weeks.” Newt lied rather talentedly to Professor Merrythought as he gestured for Victoria to enter the room.

“I was wondering where she had gotten to, she ought to get caught up in her own time.” Professor Merrythought stated rather flatly.

Victoria offered Newt a small and appreciative smile that he returned as she walked by him and into the classroom, offering a greeting smile to Michael and Hagrid as she walked past the pair of them. They were sharing defence against the dark arts with Gryffindor, nothing new.

Victoria took her seat next to Lestrange who seemed to be wearing one of his infamously smug smirks as Professor Merrythought seemed to tail behind her, coming to a stop in front of their desk, causing Victoria to instinctively look up and meet her Professor’s gaze.

“Next week you will be taking part in the duelling demonstrations Miss Chapman. You will be against Mr.Riddle, I found it fitting since you are both slytherin prefects.”

It took everything in Victoria’s body to stop herself from saying “Of course I will be because I’m just that unlucky and there is definitely nobody else you could have picked to go against him” but she managed to simply force a smile onto her lips, one that even Professor Merrythought could see was forced.

“Of course, I’d be happy to demonstrate.” Victoria forced out in an almost sickly-sweet voice.

Professor Merrythought gave a brief yet noticeable scowl down at the young brunette before she walked away from the desk, causing that forced smile to immediately wipe itself from Victoria’s features and for a glare to quickly take its place.

Just as she had predicted, she was in the classroom for around ten minutes before it was time to leave. Instead of going down to the slytherin common room like everyone else, she had gone to the library to do a little work on Ghoul’s, just to get Merrythought off her back and only after she had done that, she began her journey down to the Slytherin common room, at first she had thought she was alone in the library but it wasn’t long before she realised that she had been followed from the library and that her venture in the direction of the common room had been joined by three slytherin’s that were tailing her, quite close behind. They were three slytherins that she knew all too well were some of Tom’s followers. Rosier, Nott and Mulciber.

She knew she wasn’t crazy. She knew he had people following her, but she just didn’t know why and a part of her didn’t want too either.

Her fight and flight reflexes were kicking in and she was almost thankful that she had arrived at the Slytherin common room because she did not want to embarrass herself by running away from them, even if she could take all three of them on quite easily. It was a terrifying feeling, knowing that people were watching your every move.

As soon as she entered the Slytherin common room, she was greeted by the sight of Lestrange and Avery playing wizarding chess and Tom sat on one of the leather sofa’s reading a book, she wasn’t sure what on since she was too tired to give a damn.

“Your spies should be along shortly Tom; they weren’t far behind me.” Victoria announced as soon as she walked into the common room.

Her choice of words did its job successfully, gripping the Slytherin prefect’s attention almost immediately as his dark gaze shot up from his book to land on the young witch who was stood staring at him almost expectantly. If she expected an excuse or some sort of answer, she knew she would not get one. Not from him.

Lestrange and Avery had paused in their game to watch the pair, especially once they noticed Tom raising up from his seat on the couch to match her height. . . well only for a moment, he towered over her once he had braced up fully, something Victoria knew was a display of dominance from him but instead of cowering away from him like anyone else would, Victoria found herself staring straight up at him holding eye contact with those dark brown orbs of his.

“Spies?” Tom finally spoke, words careful and almost calculated. “What reason have I given you to think I’d want to spy on you?”

Other than trying to get her to join his little group, she could not think of a reason for Tom to have people following her around. He was hot and cold with her, sure they spent a lot of time together but that was mostly down to their respect for knowledge and each other’s intelligence, other than that they showed extraordinarily little indication that they even saw each other as friends. There was no reason for him to have her followed.

“You tell me. . . if I haven’t got those two around me.” Victoria spoke whilst cocking her head in the direction of Lestrange and Avery who seemed to duck their heads down once Tom had looked over at them for only a moment. “Then it’s Rosier, Nott and Mulciber.”

“Then clearly I need-“

Before Tom could finish, the three “spies” had come through the portrait hole, laughing their way into the common room causing everyone, including Tom to stare at them however Tom’s glare in their direction had caused them to immediately shut up and almost shrink in size as they recoiled back into themselves.

“To have a word with them.”

Victoria noticed the small smirk on Lestrange’s face as she slipped her way past Tom so that she could head towards the stairs that took her in the direction of the female dormitories, not caring once he noticed his gaze break from keeping the three, he planned to “have a word with” glued to the spot, to follow her figure as she headed towards her dorm.

“Oh, but if you are having me followed Riddle, I’ll save your boys the job and let you know that I’m at the Slug club tomorrow.” Victoria called down from the stairs to her dorm.

Though she couldn’t see him, he had let his lip twitch up into the smallest of smirks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos and comments for more!

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudo's and comments for more :)


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